Champagne Kisses
by princess.lame
Summary: Welcome to Hogwarts, 1977, where we have crazy Gryffindors, cowardly Head Boys, sneaky Marauders, and champagne kisses. Lily and James, along with their friends and their weird sense of humor, draw closer during the horrible times of darkness.
1. Black Letters and Black Encounters

Why, hello, my friends

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize. That all belongs to the genius among the apes, J. K. Rowling. So don't bother to sue me. You won't get anything. I'm poor. :)

Summary: Welcome to Hogwarts, 1977, where we have crazy Gryffindors, cowardly Head Boys, sneaky Marauders, and champagne kisses. Lily and James, along with their friends and their weird sense of humor, draw closer during the horrible times of darkness.

(A/N: Every 2 chapters I'm going to switch off between Lily and James' P.O.V. Get used to it)

Chapter One: Black Letters and Black Encounters

Black letters. That was what arrived in droves that one fateful morning, and that was NOT what you wanted to see on your last day of school, whether you were a first year or Head Girl. I was a 6th year, I had just turned seventeen, and I was loving life.

Watching those dark envelopes rain down around me, coming towards my friends, I was seized with dread. Please, please not my parents. That was the only thing I can remember going through my head that morning at breakfast. But I silently contradicted myself, telling myself that my parents were Muggles, Voldemort probably didn't even know they existed. What would he wasn't with them anyways? They couldn't do anything to harm him, not in any possible way.

So you can imagine my horror, my shock, when that horrible, cocky black owl landed in front of me. And I remember thinking, even through all of my anxiety, how much that stupid animal reminded me of James-bloody-Potter, as I so fondly called him. Stop ruffling your feathers! I mentally screamed.

With shaking fingers, I broke the wax seal on that horrid, black parchment, pulling out the letter. The letter that I would hate more than any other letter I ever had, or ever would receive. The letter that would change my life almost as much as the first letter I ever received through owl post, my first Hogwarts letter.

I read it over several, several times, before I did the only sensible thing I could have done. I ran, I ran and I ran, not paying attention to where I was going. I had treaded those paths so many times I could walk them if I was suddenly blind.

I didn't pay attention to the fact that Alice Compton, or Kristen Ashcraft, two of my best friends, were running after me, screaming, "Lily Elizabeth Evans!" I didn't even notice that suddenly I was on a couch in the Gryffindor common room, face down, muffling my tears. I didn't care that mascara was running down my face, I didn't care that I had just had a nervous break down in front of about a thousand people. And that was strange, because Lily Evans always noticed things and she always cared. But this time she didn't.

Because I could never again look into my mother's deep blue eyes, and know that she cared even when others didn't. I could never again hear my Daddy's deep voice telling me that he loved me. And it was all because of some ignorant bastard who wanted to rule the wizarding world. It was all WAY too Adolph Hitler for me.

As I looked at the Hogwarts Express later that day, I got choked up. I didn't want to go home over the summer, because in reality my home stood tall and proud against the blue sky behind me. I had no family left to go to. I had no aunts, no uncles, or even grandparents. And I sure as hell couldn't go to my sister, "Mrs. Petunia Dursley." She hated me , thought I was a freak, as she so kindly reminded me often. And I, just as kindly , assured her the feeling was mutual, and asked if she needed directions after I told her where to go . (Trust me, she didn't.)

Sighing, and throwing one last look at the magnificent castle behind me, I pulled myself together and boarded the train.

"Lily!" This shriek came from Alice, who had seen me 5 minutes ago, as soon as I stepped into the compartment.

Sighing, I turned around to look into Alice's happy-go-lucky face. I wasn't exactly in a care free mood. My parents just died, remember? But I forced myself to put on a "Happy Face," as Alice called them. She was my best friend and all, but she was just too darn cheerful sometimes! But this time, she had a solemn expression on her face.

"Lily, you don't have to be happy, doll. I know how much you must be hurting. I just wanted to tell you that if you wanted, you can stay with me during the summer. My Mum just owled and told me to invite you, and she sends her condolences."

Alice looked at me with those big blue eyes so full of sincerity and sorrow that I knew I couldn't refuse if I wanted to. But of course, I didn't.

"Oh, Alice!" It was all I could say, all I could even utter, before Alice embraced me and got their shirt soaking wet in the process. But she didn't mind. Alice never minded a, and that was why I loved her.

Soon after I had dried my shirt and taken a seat, the compartment door opened. My three other best Abby Grey, Kristen Ashcraft, and Kelli Whitaker, had finally arrived.

Now, let me pause for a second. I know, I'm the oddball. Two K's, Two A's, and a bloody L. But I love my name, so get over it.

Anyways, so back to where I was being suffocated by cotton shirts.

"Err, guys, I can't breathe!" This was me, as you might have guessed.

"Oh, sorry Lils!" Abby exclaimed as she moved off of me. Aside from that giant "Group Hug," however, none of my friends mentioned my parents. They and I both knew, and still know, that 'I'm sorry,' is the worst thing you can say to a person that just lost family. And, knowing me, they knew I would rather not talk about it.

All of my friends settled in, talking away animatedly about their summers, and what they would be doing (or not doing, in some peoples case) But I wasn't in the mood for idle chit chat, so I just stared blankly out the window, hardly thinking at all, until about 12:30.

That was when the compartment door slid open, and we all whirled around, expecting our usual un-invited visitors,. But we found someone (or rather, someones) who might have been even more unwelcome. And it was hard to top the bloody Marauders, trust me. I even remember blinking a few times, trying to make her go away.

But there she stood, her many cronies standing straight behind her, the beautiful, demented Bellatrix Black.

"Can we help you, Black?" Kelli asked aggressively.

"No, I think you could leave the Gryffindor boys to do me that pleasure." She grinned her manic grin as she watched Kelli tense. Bella wasn't going to touch Remus Lupin, not unless she wanted to die a very painful death. Kelli was in love with Remus, whether she cared to admit it or not.

"No, Bella, please stop talking there. You're giving me very, very bad mental images." The voice came from behind the large Slytherin group, and I smirked. I knew exactly who it was, who was with them, and for the first time in my life, I was happy to see the Marauders as a group. (I'm close friends with Remus, but more on that later.) With much pushing, shoving, and hissing, three very good looking boys, Sirius Black (who had spoken), James Potter (who had a very unfortunate crush on me), and Remus Lupin (whom I was friends with and who had a secret) appeared, along with their short and ugly tag-a-long, Peter Pettigrew. I honestly don't know why the boys put up with him, but that's another story.

I glance back at Bellatrix, to see how she's taking all of this. To my surprise, she's looking James up and down like she's never seen him before. Something inside me seizes up, but before I had time to register that, I felt Abby, who was beside me, tense up. Now, don't get me wrong, Abs had no romantic feelings whatsoever towards James. It's just that she had know James since they were in diapers, and if Bella took one step towards her 'big brother' Abby would be using Unforgivable Curses.

But instead, Bella focused her glare on Sirius, who was looking like he was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Oh, but what you consider disgusting, I might consider quite fun, cousin." Bellatrix, grinning, stepped forward towards James, who, with a look of horror on his face, stepped backwards, tripping over my cat's carrier case and fell into the seat I had just vacated. Bella scowled, but Sirius, Remus, Peter and Abby snickered. I decided it was time for me to step in.

"Leave, Black." Both Bella and Sirius looked at me, Bella angry, Sirius surprised. Rolling my eyes at Sirius, I pointed at Bellatrix. "Her, you bloody idiot!" Really, I felt like screaming. How were he and James top of the bloody class again?

But, if Bella was livid, her face no longer showed it. " I'm not leaving until I get a proper kiss from one of these brave Gryffindor boys," she said in a singsong voice. I smirked again as I saw one of the boys in the crowd behind Bella scowl.

"I doubt even Gryffindor courage could get one of them to snog you, you slimy, dirty Slytherin. But I'm sure Lestrange will do it for them. Now leave." The boy, Rodolphus Lestrange, deepened his scowl but blushed none the less.

Oh, I thought I was in for it then; Bella looked ready to kill. But to my surprise, she grinned and subconsciously rubbed her left forearm.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll leave you now. But you, and your friends," here she paused to throw a glance and James and I raise my eyebrows. "You and your friends will get what is coming to you. Just like your disgusting Muggle parents. Later, Mud blood, cousin... Potter." With that, she backed away slowly, the rest of the Slithering following her out.

It was only when the compartment door closed did Sirius lose his cool demeanor.

"Damn her, damn her, damn her! She crazy, she's out of her ever-loving mind!"

I raised my eyebrows at his antics, but turned to Kristen, who had already drawn a long piece of parchment out of her carry-on bag, and was dipping her quill into my bottle of color change ink.

"Who are you writing?" I asked curiously, before realizing the answer was obvious.

"Jonathon." It was her single word reply every time you asked that question. Jonathon Dunn was a Muggle whom I found quite boring, but there you have it. Kristen was engaged to him, and she had the sparkle on her left hand to prove it.

The Marauders stayed with us the rest of the train ride to King's Cross, but I didn't speak to any of them, not even Remus. I just stayed over in my corner, surveying all of my friends laughing at their crazy jokes.

Oh, right. I bet you're wandering what my friends and the Marauders look like. Well, Alice is about an inch taller than me, which isn't saying much because I'm only about 5'3. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and a round face. Kristen is taller, with dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes, and she ALWAYS looks like she just stepped out of a catalog. Kelli has black hair and dark eyes, which makes her look slightly Latin in my opinion, but she's just British, or so she says. Abby has brown hair, green eyes, and the perfect little nose. Everyone says that together we should be models. But that makes me wonder if we aren't pretty when we're not together.

Now, on to the Marauders. Sirius is, of course, the current Hogwarts heartthrob. With his collar length black hair, dark eyes, and perfect facial features, no one could resist his charm. Except us 5, of course. James had a fan club just the same as Sirius, though not as large. He has deep hazel eyes, jet black hair that is always untidy, and a sort of lopsided grin that would make your knees melt. Next was Remus. He was a mystery to Hogwarts, but that just added to his popularity. Most of the female population had him labeled "extremely sexy." In fact one of his ex girlfriends had once told me, and I quote,

'"Lily, I know my boyfriend is extremely sexy, and I know it must be very hard to keep your hands off him during prefect patrols. But remember that he's taken, or something drastic WILL happen. Toddles!"

Sara Fannan, Hufflepuff

But in all seriousness, Remus is adorable. Sandy brown hair, grayish blue eyes, and a mysterious aura. But Remus is not mystery to me, as I know his secret. So you know now, I have NEVER been drawn to Remus romantically.

I don't have much to say about Peter. He's fat, blonde, and has watery blue eyes. Oh, and he's short. Personally I like tall guys, it makes me feel protected. Tall guys like Po- nope, not going to even finish that sentence. Stupid mind!

Okay, sorry if that sucked really bad ya'll, this is my first fanfic and I find it really hard to put all my ideas into words. Hee Hee. It'll get longer and better, I promise. Next chappie in a couple of days!  
Loves ya.


	2. Touched By An Angel

Hey you guys, I'm super dooper sorry this took so long, and it's kind of just a transition chapter. Next chapter will be James' point of view. Yay!

Disclaimer: If I was J.K. Rowling and I owned Harry Potter do you honestly think I would be writing on this site? I mean, come on, the woman already had books to write. Gosh: )

Chapter 2: Touched By An Angel

As soon as I stepped off the train my vision was obscured, thanks to a certain woman with wispy grayish blonde hair.

"Oh, Lily dear, you poor doll. I'm so glad you're staying with us and not that horrible horse of a sister you have."

"Hi, Mrs. Compton." My voice came out quite muffled, considering my face was pressed against her shoulder. "Thanks for letting me stay. I'll help out as much as I can, and I'll try not to be a bother."

"Oh, you won't bother us at all, dearie. You know you're like our second daughter!" Mrs. Compton released her hold on me for a split second before turning me in circles. "Doll, you've gotten so much prettier. Still the same height, though," she added jokingly. Francine Compton was a short woman herself, and she and I always joked about who was taller.

After finding Alice, who was chatting with her boyfriend, Frank Longbottom, and his formidable- looking mother, we walked throught the barrier together into the Muggle world of London. 

"I brought the car, dearies, because even if you are allowed to apparate it's still quite hard to do carrying heavy objects." Mrs. Compton eyed our trunks. "And considering I'm traveling with two teenage girls, I'm sure those would be considered very, very heavy objects."

As we walked out in the bright sunlight towards the Comptons old car, people gawked and stared at us. At first I wondered why, thinking I had something on my face. Then I realized, not only were we carrying large trunks and an owl cage, but Mrs. Compton was wearing possibly the most bizzare outfit I had ever seen. She had her baggy grey sweatpants tucked into a pair of bright red cowboy boots, and an amazingly green halter top. Around her neck she had what I thought was probably a pink sequined belt, but she was wearing it like a scarf and looked as if she was about to hang herself. I choked back my laughter at her failed attempt to look like a Muggle and, shaking my head, climbed into the car.

It took the whole ride to the Comptons for it to actually hit me. I'm not going home. I'm really never going to see my Daddy again. The whole time I had just been in a slightly subdued state of shock, but now the grief just washed over me like a tidal wave, sucking me in, drowning me. And all of a sudden my whole body was racked with sobs, and I was shaking uncontrollably. They were actually dead, and gone, and they were about to be put underground. Tomorrow, in fact. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't run this time, I thought. I was in a moving car, a moving car that was taking me even farther away from the family that I could no longer have.

So when we pulled up to the Comptons large house, I just sat there. I don't know how long I sat there in that old car, just crying. Sometimes I was silent, just letting the tears roll down my face, and other times I wailed uncontrollably, like an 3-month-old infant with colic. But I do know, that the whole time, Alice was there with me. We sat there all afternoon, all through dinner, and dessert, and I know that she was starving and tired. But she stayed. She truly was my best friend. 

Finally, after quite a bit of coaxing, she got me into the house and into my room, under the covers. Someone, probably one of their many house elves, had already hung up my clothes, let my cat out, and put my teddy bear on my bed. It sat there, just waiting to be hugged. And that's what I did. I lay there all night, not sleeping, just holding my teddy and stroking my cat, Morgana.

The next morning when Alice came into my room, I was still in the same position she had left me in, flat on my back, staring blankly at the celiling. Morgana had long since left, and my teddy had slipped onto the floor.

"Oh, Lils, you have to get up! Today's the, the-"

"Funeral?" I supplied.

"Yes, that." Alice looked a little flustered, and I completely understand. Telling your best friend today is the day of her parents' funeral can be a little hard.

"Alright, alright, I'm getting up." So I rose and, summoning my dress from my wardrobe, walked across the hall to prepare myself for the worst day of my life.

Later that day

The funeral passed in a blur. For people who had no family, my parents sure had quite a few 'friends.' There where dozens of co-workers, country club members, and long lost family friends I had failed to ever meet somehow. One man even introduced himself as '"Uncle Alphard, dahhhling."' I almost laughed.

But I had a feeling that these 'mourners,' who were arriving in droves, didn't feel like I did. It didn't tear at their hearts when my parents hit the bottom of their graves. They didn't think about my Daddy's smile, or my Mum's twinkling eyes.

At the "reception" (for lack of a better word) people gathered at my parents' house for food and discussion, but I didn't eat, nor did I talk with anyone other than Alice. I sat perched on the edge of the couch, my back rigid as a board, as I watched people around me joke and laugh. You would never think this gathering had followed a funeral.

But they had their wicked excuse for being happy. '"They're in a better place now, doll."' Bullshit. Did they honestly think that saying would really help me feel better? They might be in a better place, but they left ME here in this horrible world to deal with the aftermath.

Alice excused herself to the loo, and I just nodded tersely, watching my brother-in-law, Vernon, and his sister, Marge, laugh loudly at one of my mother's old co-workers. I felt my stiff demeanor deteriorate, wondering why the bastards couldn't just pretend to care. Why was everyone making me do the crying? I felt so, so horribly alone.

In watching the Dusleys, I didn't see the door open and the three teenage boys file in one after the other. I didn't notice how they looked through the crowd for a moment, then made a beeline straight for me.

But I did notice that the moment I felt that hand on my shoulder, I felt like I had been touched by an angel. I still to this day don't know which Marauder had touched my shoulder, but that was truly how I felt. Like I had an ally in this horrible bloody battle. Turning around and seeing James, Sirius, and Remus standing there, I melted. I found out later that it was James that held me while I sobbed, rocking me back and forth like an infant until I fell asleep. I don't know how Alice and the Maruaders managed to get me back to the Comptons', but somehow they did, because I woke up later with my cat purring in my ear.

I made my way to the sitting room, pulling my sweater tighter around me as I went. When I walked into the room, a roar of voices greeted my sudden appearence.

"Lily"  
"Evans"  
"Lily-billy-flower-bean!" (Sirius)

I suddenly realized that there was something resemblant of a party going on. Alice, Kristen, Kelli, Abby, James, Sirius, Remus, Frank, and Arianna Huckaby (a 6th year Gryffindor who prefers us to the girls in her own year) were all gathered in Alice's sitting room, talking quietly so not to wake me.

As I looked around, I also noticed everyone had apprehensive looks on their faces, as if I was going to manifest a sudden disease.

"Guys, please don't look like that. I know my parents just died, trust me I know, okay? But I'm sick of people tip-toeing around me, and frankly, I'm sick of crying. Yeah, I know I'm probably going to cry some more. But right now all my friends are here, and I just want to have fun and forget about all the horrible things that have happened to me in the last couple of days. How about we all go to The Little Nu?"

We all laughed as the Marauders broke into identical grins. The Little Nu was a wizarding nightclub specifically for teenagers, where they only served non-alchoholic beverages (with the exception of butterbeer, which wasn't strong, unless you were a house elf) and they had many chaperones. They played a wicked mix of wizarding and Muggle music, including my favorite wizarding bands, Flightless Phoenix, Head of a Hippogriff, and Undersea Dragons.

James automaticaly switched into authority mode.

"How about we all go home, tell out parents what's up, get ready, and meet back here in-" James paused to look at his watch. "And meet back here in about 45 minutes. Then we can walk to there because it's just down the street."

And, grinning like a maniac, James turned on his heel, and with a loud pop, disappeared into thin air. Rolling his eyes at his best friend, Sirius followed his actions. One by one, all of my friends disappeared into the air around me. It was quite a curious sensation, actually. Like they were all leaving me. I shook my head, shaking the crazy notion out of my mind. They would never leave me, at least not on purpose.

45 minutes later

I was just unplugging my curling iron (I prefer to do hair the Muggle way- it's more fun!) when I heard another loud pop in the sitting room we had our 'heart-to-heart' earlier that day. Walking into the room, I saw James sitting there on the windowsill, gazing at something that I couldn't see. He hadn't yet notice I was in the room, and I studied him silently as I walked across the room towards him. 

He looked very handsome in a white and brown striped polo shirt, with khaki pants on. I loved it when he wore brown, because it brought out his make-you-melt hazel eyes. His black hair, however, was as untidy as always, sticking up every which way that really did make him look like he just jumped off of a broom. I decided I'd better say something before I let my mind run off without me, because I didn't think I could handle any more runaway emotions for the day. 

"Hey, you're the first back." My voice traveled across the room towards the window, and when it reached him he jumped up so quickly he hit his head on the window. His hand on his forehead, he turned to look at me.

"You scared me." I laughed.

"Yeah, you kind of gave me that impression. What were you looking at?" He moved back so I could see out the window and I found Morgana, in all her calico glory, right in my line of vision. I gave James a quizzical look.

"You were staring at my cat?" He gave me a sheepish look, which was not a look you would often see on the face of James Potter, let me tell you. 

"Yeah." Then, throwing me another glance, he spoke up again.

"Did you ever found out who gave her to you?" It was true, Morgana had arrived in a beautifully wrapped box (with air holes of course!) on Valentine's Day in 4th year. But whoever sent her to me left no card, just a collar with the name Morgana embroidered on it.

"No." I looked at him suspicously, before adding, "Why?"

James opened his mouth to speak, but not before two more large cracks made us both jump. Sirius and Remus materialized in front of us, both grinning from ear to ear, as if they both knew they had just interrupted a private conversation, and they knew it. Or maybe I was just being paranoid.

As the other Marauders made their way over to us, James, grinning, leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"That's because I did. You did name her Morgana, right?" For the first time in my life, I could think of nothing to say, so I just nodded.

"Well, Lily-bean, you look just gorgeous." Sirius was approaching fast, so I thought the best approach was to close my now open mouth.

"Same to you, Un-Sirius." Sirius grinned wider and nodded, turning around slowly with his arms spread wide.

"I know, don't I." I quickly hid my grin and put on my best mock serious face.

"You are such an egotistical toerag, Black. Honestly." The grins slid off of every one of the Marauders faces so quickly I had to burst into laughter.

"I was kidding, you idiots."

Minutes later, all 9 of us (plus Peter, who decided to join us) were walking down the sidewalk, talking and laughing, towards The Little Nu. Walking through the large double doors of the club, I realized it was jam-packed. 

Well, duh, Lily. It's Friday. Of course the place is packed.

As we maneuvered our way through the crowd over to the 'eating sanctuary' (as the Marauders had christened the small cafe in the corner) we ordered butterbeers and plopped down at a booth that was made for 8. There were 10 of us.

From our spot in the cramped cafe we could see that the dance floor was equally packed. I could make out quite a few Hogwarts students we knew, like Eddie Bones, Daniel Clarke, Sean Easterling, Blake Daniels, and Gilderoy Lockhart, who were all in our year and all Hufflepuffs. I knew the others only put up with Lockhart to be nice, but Gilderoy had a very, very bad reputation and had actually once been accused of hitting a girl, though she had never been able to prove it. As I watched him talk to some of the girls we knew, like Amy Brenton, Nicole Ginn, Lindsey Prekins, and Scarlet Rohagarris, I felt disgust rise up inside of me. Judging by the looks on the Marauders' handsome faces, they felt the same way. 

This was definitely going to be an interesting night.

Once again, sorry this update took so long. I've had a busy week and I'm going to have an equally busy weekend. And, once again, I know this chapter kind of sucked, but it's a transition chapter, and James' point of view is next. Oh, and thanx to all my reviewers. Backstagebabe, that was the part of the breakdown that was supposed to be in Chapter One, but I still can't find the other half. 


	3. The Little Nu and the Bum Boys

Hey hey hey my friends. So, I just uploaded Chapter 2, and I figured I probably should get started on Chapter 3 while I'm ahead, huh? So, this is the first with James' point of view, read and review and tell me how you like it, kay?

IMPORTANT: I've decided now to switch off every other chapter instead of every two, so be prepared, okay? Sorry for such an abrupt change of plans, it's just easier this way.

Chapter 3: The Little Nu and The Bum Boys

He just had to show his ugly pretty-boy face, didn't he? Wow, I just totally contradicted myself. Ugly pretty-boy, how articulate am I? Okay, off the subject.

I can't believe that disgusting scum can even show his face in public after what he did to Katie Prinze last year. I mean, how do you hit a girl just because she won't sleep with you? Gilderoy Lockhart was a no good player, and I swear, if he tried anything on any of my friends (especially Lily and Abby) he'd wake up in St. Mungo's. Only I wouldn't be bothering with wands.

So, as angry as I was, I tried to remember that we were here to try to help Lils keep her mind of the bad things. We ordered a round of drinks, all on me, and then decided to go and squeeze into the dance floor while it was still playing an upbeat song. Lockhart, however, had other plans. As soon as he saw Lily and Kelli on the floor, he made a beeline for the D.J., no doubt to request a slow song.

Nice try pal, but it's not going to work. See all these guys around them, including me? We are not going to let it happen.

As soon as the song (Charming You) began to float through the speakers, I grabbed Lily's arm lightly and began to pull her back towards me.

"Dance with me, Lils? Please?" She grinned and nodded. Taking her into my arms I looked over her shoulder to see who had paired up with who. Kristen was with Blake Daniels, Kelli with Remus (of course), Arianna with Eddie Bones, and Sirius with Abby. I nodded at the last pair.

"I didn't really expect that to happen." I mean, their personalities completely conflicted. Abby was shy, and Sirius was always the center of attention. That was enough to spark a fight right there. Lily, glancing over her shoulder, smirked.

"Well, you know what they say." I looked at her, expecting an explanation, but she just stood there (or danced there, actually, but never mind) smiling. I loved it when she smiled. It made her eyes light up and they just twinkled like stars. But they were even more beautiful when she was angry. They flashed like liquid green fire. 

"Yeah... um, no, what do they say?" Lily laughed, and it imediatelly brightened my mood. She NEVER laughed at anything I said. EVER. 

"It must be strictly a Muggle saying. You know, opposites attract?" Oh. I had heard that saying before, but I had been to occupied with her eyes to worry about what THEY where saying. Who were they anyways?

"Umm, no, I've heard that, just forgot I guess." Lily's grin widened. This must be a record. I've actually kept her smiling for 3 whole minutes.

"Sure you have, James," she teased. Her smile was so pret- hold on a minute, she just called me James. If I hadn't been in the middle of a very jam packed club, I would have done a victory dance.

"What's so funny?" I thought about lying to her for a second, but then I thought of how much Lily Evans valued honesty.

"You just called me James." She suddenly decided to avoid eye contact.

"Well, isn't that your name?"

"Not for the past six years it hasn't been." I tilted her head back up so I could look into her beautiful eyes. "I was thinking about legally changing it to egotistical toerag." She grinned sheepishly.

"Um, yeah, sorry about that." Suddenly she grimaced. "Oh no, Lockhart is heading this way. Into the crowd, into the crowd!" And comically, she steered us into the large mass of Hogwarts students, who first looked at us quizzically, then realized we were being pursued. Lockhart's crush on Lily was almost as well known as mine, only they had it wrong there. I didn't have a crush on Lily Evans.

I was in love with her.

As she escaped to the bathroom I went and plopped down at our table, downing my butterbeer and Sirius' all in about 3 minutes. Without realizing it, Lily and I had danced through 2 songs, one of them passing in silence.

I had decided to lay off a bit this year. To let her get to know me without constantly asking her out and hexing people near. I had to show her I wasn't conceited. At least, not anymore.

Sirius approached and plonked down into the booth across from me. I smirked at him.

"Where's Abby?" Sirius looked up at me with his eyebrows raised, then grinned sheepishly and stole Remus' butterbeer. (I drank all of his, remember?) 

"She's dancing with Eddie." Sirius looked up at me suddenly and looked at my face as if searching for something.

"You aren't mad at me for dancing with her, are you Prongs? I mean, I know you guys are close and everything and-" I cut him off with a wave of my hand, but a new thought had come into my head.

"Padfoot, I'm not mad at you. Abby is like my little sister, and if you hurt her, I'll castrate you, but I've got a feeling this is one girl you won't be hurting. And I know you like the back of my hand." Sirius grinned at me, and I knew I was right. I had known the way boy too long to be wrong.

Soon Remus came and joined us and, after he had taken Peter's butterbeer (because Sirius took his) drank it all in one sitting.

"Thirsty Moony?" He was about to reply with his usual wolfish grin when something arrived in the form of a blonde that made us all want to recoil.

Gilderoy Lockhart.

And that little twerp had the nerve to get in MY face? Oh no, oh no no no, this just wouldn't do.

"Listen Potter, and listen good. I know what you and your little... bum boys are trying to do. But don't think you can keep your precious little Gryffindor angels away from me. I'll get them, whether you like it or not." I was about to reply (rather angrily) when someone else did it for me.

"What if we don't want you to 'get us,' Lockhart?" Gilderoy whirled around at the sound of Lily's voice and then recoiled when she (sorry, I meant he, I really did) saw the look on her face. 

"You, you didn't hear that, did you Lily?"

"No, I'm angry for the fun of it, you little idiot."

"Watch who you're talking to like that, Mudblood. One of these days you're going to spout off to the wrong person and you're going to get hurt." This voice, however, did not come from Lockhart. (It actually made him scatter with his tail between his legs.) No, this was the cruel, cold voice of Lucius Malfoy, who had just graduated. Most girls would have backed down under his cold stare, but not Lily. She just looked like she didn't have a single care in the world. Frank, Peter, and the other girls made their way over just as Sirius, Remus and I stood up, flanking Lily like body guards.

"Aww, how sweet. My precious cousin and his blood-traitor pals are protecting their favorite Mudblood. How sweet." Bellatrix and Narcissa Black, Sirius' cousins, appeared as adruptly as if they Apparated, along with Regulus Black, Sirius' brother, Rodolphus Lestrange, and Barty Crouch.

"No, dear cousin, we are protecting one of our best friends, and if call her that word again you're going to be in some very serious pain." Bella's face contorted.

"Are you threatening me, Sirius Black?" Sirius smirked.

"Oh, no, darling, you see, unlike Lockhart, I don't hit girls, however hideous they may be." Sirius, being the clown he is, had to pause and let that sink in. "But you see those five right here?" He gestured towards Alice, Abby, Kelli, Kristen and Arianna, who were looking extremely angry.

"Those five are girls, and you just threatened their best friend. And, darling, let me warn you, Gryffindors don't take too kindly to threats."

"Take a hike, Black." Lily wasn't looking angry. She was actually looking slightly puzzled, but I had no idea to why that would be. The Slytherins were always trying to pick on her, though it never got too far.

Lily turned around, walking through her small crowd of friends. I turned and raised my eyebrows at her, but she didn't pay any attention, just stared at her hands as if they would solve all her problems. I wish she would look at me like that. Gosh, my mind's getting away with me again. UGH! Okay, off subject again. Sorry, I do that alot.

Bella turned towards me, anger written all over her face as she looked from me to Lily and back again. "You better go figure out what's wrong with your Mudblood, Potter. We know you can't live without her." She turned on her heel and walked away, her "friends" following her, though looking confused. I still don't understand why she was so upset over Lily. I mean, what did she ever do to her? Steal her boyfriend or something?

But I did do exactly what she said.

You didn't think I was going to pass up a chance to comfort Lily so I could ponder the way a psycho's mind works, did you? I think not. I couldn't stand it when Lily was scared, or sad, and by the look in her eyes right now, she was both. I didn't understand why, but I would definitely try to.

So while all my friends headed back out to the dance floor, I went to our small booth and sat down across from Lily, making a grab for Alice's butterbeer. I had a feeling I was going to start another 'steal a butterbeer because mine was stolen' chain, but I didn't really care. It was actually slightly amusing. Okay, off subject for the third time tonight. What was wrong with me today?

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong with you?" Lily looked up, her eyes fearful, and shook her head.

"Aww, come on Lils!" She sighed and, shaking out her crimson hair, looked me in the eye.

"James, if I tell you, you can't take it the wrong way. Alright?" I know I probably had a puzzled look on my face, but I nodded anyways.

"Well... see, it's just, er...-"

"Lily, spit it out!"

"I don't like the way Bella looks at you." She stated that fact so simply that I was taken aback at first. Did she actually care what happened between me and that nasty Slytherin? I mean, not that anything would. Bella's perfectly beautiful and everything, I'll be the first to admit that. I'll also admit that I have been shallow before and dated girls that were horrible people. But Bellatrix back went beyond horrible, went beyond simply demented.

She was completely psychotic.

"What do you mean, the way she looks at me?"

"Well, it's kind of like a cross between love and hate. It's like she wants to marry you, but deep down in her eyes you can see that she also hates your guts. It's confusing, but it's extremely scary, when you think about it, because Bella is psychotic."

Wow. That was the only word that came to mind. How could she see all that in one person? All I saw in Bella was my best friend's psychotic cousin who wanted to kill me. I just shook my head, realizing it must be a girls' thing.

Wait a minute. Did Lily just say she cared about me? I mean, in any form other than which hex would be best to turn my hair green and silver. The thought took my breath away. I looked up to grin at her, but I found something I definitely didn't want to find.

Lily was gone.

Mwarha ha ha I'm so evil. I love cliffhangers so much. They just keep you on edge, you know? Well, whatever. So how did you guys like James?

Loves, Sunni 


	4. Warnings and Handsome Strangers

Hey hey hey everyone! Thanx to my reviewers for Chapter 3, Amenti, Opalshine, and Whitelight72. Three cheers for you guys! But I have a bone to pick with some people. You guys, I do have a hit counter, I've had 297 people read my fanfic so far, but I only have 8 reviews. Anyone else see the problem there? Does my story suck that bad? Come on guys, please review, they make my day!

IMPORTANT: This is Lily, don't forget!

Chapter 4-Warnings and Handsome Strangers

I pulled my arm back hard, trying to free my wrist from the cold white hand it was ensnared in. The black hooded figure the hand was attached to looked back, shook their head, and began walking faster. Who in the world was this? I watched the way they walked for a second, then decided I must not know them. Surely if I did they would show me who they were, right?

The figure pulled me down the hallway that led to the main office and the kitchens, leading me into a dark corner. Pulling back their hood, I was finally able to tell who my torturer was.

Serverus Snape. But what on the world did he want with me? He couldn't hurt me, I knew that much. I was just as good as he was in any of our classes, save maybe Arithmancy, but that didn't count during a duel.

"What do you want, Snape?" I asked coldly, once again trying to free myself from his grasp. I was forced to think back to the incident after OWL's in 5th year, when James and Sirius had been teasing him and I had to make them stop. Remus hadn't looked happy about what they were doing, but he never stopped them. So I always had to step in and save Snape, and he was always the ungrateful little bugger he is today.

Snape sneered at me, making his face so ugly I just wanted to slap him.

"I never had you pegged as a Potter fan, Evans." I looked up at him (yes, even Snape is taller than me, sad, I know.) and raised my eyebrows.

"You pulled me all the way back here so you could tell me that? That's the stupidest thing you've ever done, Snape." I turned to leave, but he pulled me back.

"No, I just thought we would be friendly before I told you what I have to tell you." I know I looked puzzled, because he smirked.

"You better tell me and let me go, or James and the others will come looking for me. I was in the middle of a conversation, you know."

"Really? It sounded more like an awkward silence to me. And I'm sure you're Prince Charming will come to find you, not that I care. I just wanted to tell you that you need to be watch out for Bellatrix." I looked up in suprise, wondering how he knew we had been talking about Bella. 

"Where you eavesdropping on our conversation?"

"No, I just saw you talking to Bella earlier. You want to be careful around her, you know." I had a feeling this was what he had brought me to talk about. But why was he telling me to be careful? Since when did he care what happened to me?

"What kind of trap have you and Bella planted, Snape? It won't work. You two can't hurt me." I wasn't feeling near as confident as I sounded, but Snape didn't have to know that. He looked at me with a cold glint in his eye, and I had to stop myself from shivering. He was really scary when he wanted to be.

"This has nothing to do with me. I know every whisper that comes from the mouth of every Slytherin because I listen. And lately a lot of those whispers have been about you. You know how you and Potter are getting all cozy over there? Bella, though she will never admit it, has a thing for Potter. So watch out."

I almost wanted to add that my friends and the Marauders would protect me, but Snape already thought that James and I were getting 'cozy' and I didn't want him to get the wrong idea. Not that I cared what he thought, but at Hogwarts, word gets around. I would probably be killed in my sleep if people (girls, actually) thought I had taken Hogwarts "Most Eligible Bachelor" off the market. And I was NOT ready to die.

"Bella's never done anything to James' other girlfriends," I stated, feeling overwhelmed and like I was about to cry.

"That's because Potter has never been serious about a girl in his life, Evans. But guys can tell when another guy is serious, and we can all see how much Potter really is in love with you. I wouldn't let my worst enemy walk into Bella unarmed and unaware. Just be careful." I thought I saw something move in his eyes as he told me this, but as soon as I looked back to see if I was right he turned on his heel and walked away.

Sometimes certain people just pull on your nerves so much you want to scream, or you feel like a wire that's about to snap. With me, Snape is definately one of those people. 

I began walking down the hallway, going over the conversation in my head. Thinking of all we had said, I stopped suddenly, even though I knew I had to get back to the others. I didn't stop because of Snape's warning, or because of anything he had said to me. I already knew James had a crush on me, but I wouldn't call it love. That's just teenage drama.

No. I stopped suddenly because of something I said. Something that made it sound as if James Potter and I were- no, I can't even say the word.

I had said James' OTHER girlfriends. As if I was one of them. And I knew that Snape would think that too. So now everyone was going to think James and I were dating. Just GREAT!

Well, now that I think about it, James really isn't so bad. Maybe next time he asks me out I'll say-

NO! I'll say no, just like I always do. Yes, that's right. I don't like James like that, I kept telling myself. But a little voice in the back of my head was contradicting me with a little cheerful, "Yeah you do Lils, don't lie to yourself. That voice sounded amazingly like Alice.

I wanted to scream, I'm not lying to myself! You're lying to me! But that little part of me that was wanting to like James, that little part of me that DID like James, got alot bigger... I don't know why, I just couldn't like James Potter. I couldn't allow myself to do it, atleast not tonight. I wasn't ready for it, I needed to think about this. There was only one way to make thinking stop. Excitement

Later that night.

After I had returned to my friends and told them what happened, skipping over the fact that Bella hated me because of James AND over the fact that Snape was the actual Slytherin who delivered the message, I threw myself headfirst into the music and the crowd. I danced and talked and laughed with everyone (except the Slytherins and Lockhart, of course.) and I bought myself a popsicle. 

Now, I know that's not very exciting, but I'm just trying to give you a round-about view of my evening. I thought I would be nice, and tell you that it was cherry flavored. I LUV popsicles. I LUV em ALOT.

Okay, now I just got totally off subject. I don't normally do that. James and Sirius and Kelli do that. NOT LILY!

Okay, I got off subject again. Back to my evening.

We all retired back to our booth once again, exhausted after about two hours of nonstop dancing, ordering another round of butterbeers (on James, of course, although he didn't know it yet, as Sirius had volunteered him) and chatting a bit. I can't remember whose joke I was laughing at, but I remember I was laughing when someone tapped my shoulder and asked me to dance. I nodded, climbing over James, Sirius, Abby and Peter to get out of the booth. Needless to say I was in the middle.

Taking my hand, the handsome stranger pulled me through the crowd, so far away from my friends I couldn't see them any longer, though I could still feel James' glare. If looks could kill, this guy would have been dead 3 minutes ago. Remus and Sirius would have only mildly injured him. James had to try and kill him.

After about a minute of dancing, I began to look over the guy's features, subconciously comparing him to James. He wasn't as tall as James, his eyes weren't as warm, his hair was too neat and the wrong color. Wait an minute, stop! The excitement was supposed to be helping me FORGET about James.

Shaking my head and muttering an apology, I left the guy there with a dangerous look on his face. In fact, if he would have caught me, I would have been extremely scared. 

Once again climbing over people's laps, I was back in my seat in the "eating sanctuary." Squeezed between Frank and James, I felt completely safe for the first time since my parent's deaths. The Marauders WOULD protect me, whether I told Snape that or not. But I must have still had quite a frightened look on my face.

"What happened? What did that jerk do to you?" James looked livid, but I just smiled and shook my head.

"Nothing, I just wanted to get back to you guys, and I left before he could say anything about it. He just had a scary look on his face, that's all."

"Well, he shouldn't be looking at you like that. It scared you, I can tell." James was so darn stubborn.

"Yeah, it scared me a little," I admitted slowly. I knew how James could get. Once, in 5th year, he had punched one of my boyfriends because he was supposedly cheating on me. He wasn't, but after that small 'incident' (as James called it later while I was yelling at him for it) he had broken up with me, saying he really did like me, he just didn't think he could handle the wrath of the Marauders.

That's how it had been with all my boyfriends before, and I knew that's how it would be now. James and his silly little crush.

After we talked a bit more, and I calmed James down, we decided to head back out to the dance floor. Just as we stepped out of the cafe area, a slow song once again picked up, and I once again felt myself being pulled into James' arms. I didn't resist, just let myself lean against him. Looking over his shoulder, I saw Bella shooting daggers at us, but I didn't care.

I decided James was worth it. And the next time he asked me out, I would have my answer ready, as always. But this time, it wouldn't be the same answer.

Okay guys, tell me how you liked it. See, you do that by pressing the little time button on the bottom that says "SEND REVIEW" or something like that anyways. Only about a month and I will be 14! HECK YES! Sorry, I'm a lil country girl, you gotta throw some heck in there somewhere. HEE HEE.

Loves always,  
Sunni 


	5. First Encounter With Love and Evil

Hey guys! BIG THANX to all my reviewers for Chapter 4! You guys had me laughing so hard for like, 10 minutes. It was hilarious. Someone told me they would set the M.I.B (men in black) on me if I didn't update, so I decided I'd better do it before Will Smith comes knocking my door down. Not that that would nacessarily be a bad thing... hee hee. Dream world overdrive. But I prefer Orlando Bloom, so next time send some pirates. I'll kill Elizabeth and then have Will all to myself... mwarhahahaha! Okay, sorry for that, got a little carried away!

IMPORTANT: This is James, remember that!

Chapter 5 - First Encounters With Evil and Love

All I could think about over the next few days was how perfect Lily felt in my arms, how she fit into the just right. And it was only natural, of course, that since Lily was on my mind most of the time, she was in my dreams most of the time, too. Dreaming about Lily was my third favorite thing in the world, after being with Lily and Quidditch. Lily was first of course.

And I was having one of those completely perfect dreams about that completely perfect girl and how completely perfect my life would be with her, when something very large slammed into my bed, jolting me out of my completely perfect dream. I was going to completely, perfectly, kill Sirius. Bloody git.

But my different plots of murder stopped instantly when I looked into his face. He looked extremely bewildered and incredibly frightened. And Sirius Black is never scared. Never. He runs around with a werewolf once a month, for goodness sakes! What could he be scared of?

"Padfoot, what's going on?" Sirius shook his head, searching for the right words. 

"James, we have to get out of here. He's here, he's looking for your parents. He'll be up here any second." And suddenly, I knew exactly what he was talking about. Voldemort. Of course he was after my parents, not only were they Aurors, they were among those who were trying to get rid of him. The Order of the Phoenix.

"Where are we going to go, Padfoot? What are we going to do?" I was speaking very fast, on the brink of panicking. Sirius and I weren't the type the handle things like this without losing our heads or else doing something extremely stupid. That was right up Remus' alley, not ours. 

"Apparate. It's the only thing to do. We'll go to the Ministry, inform your parents, and then go to... the Compton's or the Lupin's. It's better if we stay as far away from Voldemort as possible."

"Yes, that would be the best idea, wouldn't it?" The voice, high and cold, and filled with humor, wasn't mine. And that fact sent a shiver down my spine. I was about to die. I just knew it.

I turned to stare into the eyes of death, looking more confident than I felt. What I saw made me recoil in disgust.

Voldemort stood about an inch taller than me, his nose mere slits in his face, his eyes a deep, blood red. It was disgusting and yet, at the same time, it was intriguing. I had expected someone dark, someone handsome. 

"What do you want?" I finally found my voice, fighting with myself to keep my eyes trained on this man- no, this, this thing in front of me. I tried not to look away, but I couldn't bring myself to stare into his eyes any longer. I wouldn't wish this on anyone, not even Snape or Bella. How on earth could his Death Eaters look at him? Did they recoil like I did when they first saw him?

"Well, young Potter, I want you. You and your friend Mr. Black, that is. You see, you two have exceptional magical ability. I have been told by certain... allies, that you two are the best in your year, along with a certain, Lily Evans?" My eyes flashed dangerously when Lily's name came out of his mouth. He wasn't going to hurt her anymore.

"You stay away from Lily. Don't go near her. And don't even think for a second that we would join you." Voldemort smirked, which contorted his face into... I don't have the right words to describe it. But it was sickening.

"Oh, you like her, don't you, Mr. Potter? Maybe even, love her? Yes, yes, I forgot that tiny detail." He laughed at the look on my face. "Yes, I know all about you and your precious Mudblood Evans. I know every single detail of your Hogwarts school life, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, from girls you have dated, to pranks you have played, to homework you have turned in late. I also know how you two act around two specific girls. Yes, I have spies everywhere, young ones, don't think that you're precious Hogwarts is discluded."

He began walking slowly towards the door, then turned once more when he reached it.

"Think about what I said." And, turning on his heel, he was gone with a loud crack. I turned to Sirius, who was looking as bewildered as I was. 

"Why didn't he kill us?" I just shook my head, trying to think of something sensible to say. 

"Lily."

"Sorry?"

"He mentioned Lily, we have to get over there to make sure she's okay!" I was almost in hysterics. I had to make sure she was okay. Then something else hit me.

"Who was he talking about?" I asked Sirius. He shook his head.

"Which bit?"

"He said two specific girls. I know he was talking about Lily, but- Abby." A stricken look hit Sirius' face and he darted forward. 

"Go to the Compton's, James. I'm going to find Abby. After we make sure they're okay, meet me at the Ministry and we can go and tell you're parents what happened." That was the most reasonable thing to do, but I had a very small feeling that it was going to be a lot harder to leave Lily than he thought.

Later

I rang the Compton's doorbell several times, but when no one answered, I let myself in. Whether they were asleep or not, I was going to make sure Lily was okay.

"Lily! Alice! Mr. and Mrs. Compton!" I was yelling, waking them up, and I knew Mr. Compton especially wouldn't be happy with me. But I didn't care.

"James?" A sleepy voice from behind me called my name, and I turned on my heel to see Lily and Alice standing there, both in their night clothes, with identical looks of confusion on their faces. I was so happy I could have laughed, but instead I swept them both into a hug.

"Thank goodness you two are okay!" I released Alice, but held onto Lily. She was the main one I was worried about, and if something would have happened to her because of me... I think I would have killed myself.

"James, what is the meaning of this?" Mr. Compton swept into the room, his bleary eyed wife behind him, glaring at me. Looking at my watch, I realized it was even later than I thought. Then I realized how this must look, both the girls in their night clothes, with me clinging to Lily as though my life depended on it. I released her and sat down on the couch, preparing to tell my story.

Later

Lily and the Comptons sat in shocked silence after I finished my story. Finally, Lily turned to me.

"He wanted me?" She looked shocked and scared, and it took all of my willpower not to pull her back into my embrace. 

"I don't think so. I think he was just trying to scare me." Lily gave me a puzzled look, but I mouthed 'I'll tell you later,' and she nodded. I didn't feel like confessing my love in front of Alice and her parents. How awkward would that be?

Oh no. I still had to tell my parents what happened. I stood up quickly to leave.

"I have to go. I have to go tell my parents what happened." Lily looked disappointed, and I couldn't help but feel that little balloon of hope inside me swell up, and quickly. Maybe I still had a chance with her.

As I walked out the door to the end of the street so I could Apparate, thoughts of doubt raced through my head. Did she really like me? Did I really stand a chance? And even if she did, should I really try? What if Voldemort found out about us, what if he hurt her? The chance of that scared the life out of me.

I couldn't let anyone hurt Lily. And the only way I could keep that from happening was stay a safe distance away from her. The thought of not having Lily hurt me deeply, scarred my heart. I couldn't go on without Lily in my life, not when I could her. 

I would tell her, and let her decide. I knew I was being selfish. But if she knew the dangers, and still wanted me, who was I to tell her no?

I arrived at the Ministry with thoughts flying through my head, only to find Sirius already there, looking on the verge of tears. Oh no, I thought, something horrible happened. Sirius hadn't cried since his Uncle Alphard died, and that was the first time he had cried since he was three. Being brought up as a Black had taught him to be that way, even if he hated the lot of them.

"What happened, mate?" Sirius shook his head. I glanced over his shoulder at my parents, but they just shrugged their shoulders.

"Padfoot, what on earth happened?" Sirius was visibly shaking, and by now I could see that not only was he about to cry, he was extremely angry. He was ready to kill someone.

"He... the Dark Mark... Abby gone..." I narrowed my eyes at Sirius.

"Sirius Black, if you don't tell me what's wrong right this instant, I'm going to scream you're middle name for the whole Ministry to hear. O-" But Sirius looked up at me with grief stricken eyes, and I stopped my shouting of 'Orion' immediately. Normally he would have killed me if I said his middle name.

"James, he took Abby. The Grey's are dead, but they can't find Abby. They can't find her." As Sirius made a dash for the door, I froze. Not Abby. Not my little sister, the girl I had grown up with. This was just way too much. If there were three women in my life you didn't touch without pay back, it was my mum, Lily, and Abby. I wondered how my parents were going to take this news. Abby was like their daughter. 

Then I realized how much Sirius cared for Abby. He was actually crying over her, and Sirius had once told me he wasn't going to cry again until one of the Marauders died, or his favorite cousin Andromeda. I remember, when we were fourteen, how scared he was that Andromeda was going to have a baby. He was scared he would lose his cousin.

If Voldemort had made Sirius cry, he was going to be angry. Possibly angrier than I was now. but I vowed to myself right then and there, that if I didn't kill Voldemort, it darned sure better be someone I loved, like one of my kids.

Because the Potters were going to make Voldemort pay.

Mwarharhahaha... I'm so exceedingly evil. Sorry, I just had to throw some real drama in there, not just teenage angst. And I know that last line was cheesy, but I just couldn't resist. Hee Hee Hee. So, press that button down there that says submit review and tell me how you liked it. This definetely wasn't my best chapter, because I'm not very good with Voldemort dialouge, sorry. I'll try harder in chapters to come, but I wanted to get this up today because I'm babysitting tomorrow, and I won't be able to write all day.

Loves 


	6. Nicknames and Invisibility Cloaks

My goodness, babysitting is exhausting! I just got home from watching seven year old twins and an autistic four year old, and I'm wiped. Keep me in your prayers! lol. Hey guys, thanx for the reviews! E Patronum, you'd better update The Courtyard soon! Well, I guess I'd better get started.

This is really just a transition chappie, so don't worry!

IMPORTANT: This is Lily.

Chapter 6: Nicknames and Invisibility Cloaks

After James left, I found myself on the couch, still shivering beyond belief. I couldn't believe that only days after we were laughing and dancing it up at a club, James and Sirius come face to face with the most evil wizard of all time. I don't know what I would have done.

And the fact that my name had come out of Voldemort's mouth was increasingly frightening. And if he could break into the Potter's, he could most certainly get into the Compton's. I had a feeling that I would be very jumpy and paranoid for the next few days, maybe even weeks.

I wished James was still there. I felt safe around him, like he would give his life for me. I knew he probably wouldn't, but still. I wonder why Voldemort would use me to scare James. He had left before he could explain, but I wish he could have. James has nothing more than a silly crush on me, right?

I sat up pondering this until about 4 o'clock in the morning, when I decided to get some sleep. I was just sliding under the covers when the doorbell rang repeatedly, like something was so extremely important that it couldn't wait until morning. I ran to the door and, wondering who it could possibly be, pulled it open. There on the threshold stood James, Sirius, and the Potters. Sirius' eyes were red, like he had been crying.

"Lily!" James looked exhausted, with bags under his eyes and his hair even more untidy than usual. "Lily, go and wake up Alice and her parents. We've got something we have to tell you."

I was bewildered, but nodded, and ran to wake Alice. Opening the door to her blue and green bedroom, I found the blonde laying on her back, her arm over her eyes. Going to her, I shook her awake.

"Alice! Alice, wake up, James and his parents and Sirius are here and they said they have to tell us something. Alice!" After she finally jolted awake, she rushed to wake her parents and I hurried back into the sitting room, taking a seat on the couch between Sirius and James. Once again, I felt that odd sense of security wash over me.

"James, what on earth is going on?" I asked him quietly, but he shook his head and nodded towards the door. Alice and her parents had just walked in, and Sirius looked disgruntled, like he was about to do something he really didn't want to do. Mrs. Compton looked at the Potters worriedly.

"Amy, what in the world is going on?" She asked Mrs. Potter, who was near hysterics, but she just shook her head like her son had and looked directly at Sirius. Sirius, sighing, looked at the Comptons.

"While James was coming here to check on Lily and Alice and make sure they were alright, I went to Abby's. When I reached the edge of her road, I automatically knew something was wrong. I just felt it. When I got to the Greys' house, it was in shambles, the Dark Mark was there... and Abby's parents were..." Sirius paused to take a breath and I knew he felt like crying. "Abby's parents were dead, in the yard. Avada Kedavra. Aurors came and they searched everywhere for Abby and her little sister, but they didn't find anything. Not their bodies, not a note, nothing. I... I think Voldemort has them."

There was a collective shutter in the room, but not from the sound of Voldemort's name, like most of you probably figured. It was from the fact that one of our best friends, one of the most important people in our lives, was gone, in Voldemort's hands. It was mind blowing.

Then the reality of what was going on shook me like an earthquake, and I broke down right there, just broke down and sobbed. When would that horrible monster stop with the pain, with the destruction, with the violence? Why was he doing this? I pulled myself up from the couch and fled to my room, throwing myself down on my bed. This wasn't just about Abby and Kelsey, her sister. This was about my parents, about Abby's parents, and about everyone else who had died in Voldemort's hands. It was too much to handle in one week, let alone one day.

Slowly but surely, my bedroom door opened and admitted three people. I wanted to tell them to leave, to go away and let me wallow in my pity on my own. But I knew even if I did, it would do no good, so I just let them come. James and Sirius sat down on the edge of my bed, but Alice didn't. She climbed right into the bed with me, shimmied under the covers, and held me while I sobbed into her nightshirt. James stroked my hair and Sirius patted me on the back.

I didn't have to look to know they were all crying. I knew they were, especially Sirius, because he was sniffling. If the situation hadn't been so terrible, I would have laughed. The Great Sirius Black, crying? Who would have thought it?

I remember waking up the next morning next to Alice. Looking around for the boys, I found James lying on his back, his glasses askew, with Sirius' head and his drool on his stomach. I couldn't help it this time. I laughed, and I laughed hard. Then, I remembered why they were there in the first place, and I began to panic. We had to find Abby, we just had to!

I woke Sirius and Alice, but James was proving to be a challenge. All three of us were trying to get him up, temping him with different things.

"James, get up, and I'll bake you some cookies!"

"Prongs, if you don't get up, I'm going to lick your face!"

"James, get up, stupid, or I'm going to hurt you!"

Okay, so maybe Sirius and I weren't really tempting him, more like threatening. But that works sometimes too.

"James, if you don't get up, I'm going to kiss Lily-billy-flower-bean. And I mean it!"

But Sirius didn't have to add that last part, because James had shot up like a rocked at 'billy' and lunged at Sirius. Alice and I stepped back, laughing hysterically and trying not to get trampled. The boys wrestled around a bit more before James had Sirius pinned to the ground. Maybe Quidditch practice did pay off.

"That was the lowest thing you've ever done, Padfoot." James was trying his hardest to keep a straight face, but it wasn't working, making him look like he had just swallowed a sour lemon. It was hilarious.

"What is it with you four and your crazy nicknames?" Alice asked, her eyebrows raised. I didn't say anything even though I knew. I knew Remus' anyways, I still hadn't managed to decipher the code of the other three idiots. James launched into some crazy story about Remus' special ability to moon people, how Sirius had three extra layers of skin and fat on the bottom of his foot, how James had been born with antlers, and how Bellatrix had given Peter a tail once apon a time. I knew this wasn't the truth, but it was still funny.

And if it was the truth, I felt bad for James' mum. Imagine having to give birth to a kid with antlers! Double ouch. Anyways, back to the subject.

"You guys, what are we going to do about Abby?" This wiped the smiles of their faces, and Sirius looked at me confusedly.

"We're going to go after her, of course." I raised my eyebrows at him.

"How, Sirius? We don't even know where she is!" Sirius grinned.

"Yes, I do. When I got there last night, a few Death Eaters were still there." I didn't say anything, but gave him one of my 'Lily Glares.' "I didn't say anything because I knew you guys would freak, but I just remembered something. They kept going on and on about the Forbidden Forest. You guys, I don't know how they did it, but somehow they got into Hogwarts, or onto the grounds atleast. They have her in the Forbidden Forest."

A shocked silence fell on the room at his announcement.

"Well, let's go then!" I actually made to get up from my spot on the bed, but James pushed me back down again.

"Going on a rescue mission in your night clothes, Lilykins?" His voice was teasing, but his eyes gave away the fact that he was worried. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he even uttered a syllable, I cut him of.

"I'm going, James Potter, and nothing you can do or say can stop me." He looked like he was about to protest, but I gave him my saddest most miserable look and he scowled. Rolling his eyes, he stood up, muttering something about 'No fair.' I just grinned, knowing I had won.

Later

A few hours later, after we had all showered and dressed, the boys showed back up at the Comptons'.

James looked at us worriedly.

"You didn't tell your parents, did you? You know they won't let you go, and then they would contact my parents and they wouldn't let us go either." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"James-bloody-Potter, do you honestly think we are that stupid? Of course we didn't tell them! Now can we go?" James and Sirius shared a glance, then nodded.

"We have something to show you." Without any further preamble, he pulled a silvery-white cloak out of his robes. AN INVISIBILITY CLOAK!

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. This is why you guys never get caught! I knew you guys had more secrets than you let onto! I cannot believe Remus didn't tell me! I mean, he even told me about..." I cut myself of with a quick glance at Alice, who was looking bewildered. "He even told me about.. other stuff." James gave me a look that clearly said, "Wow, Lily, good cover-up!" in a very sarcastic way. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't his secret to tell. The cloak belongs to me. It's kind of a family heirloom. I plan to give it to my kid too." His eyes bore into mine, and I had the sudden urge to say "Our kid, James." That followed with the sudden urge to hit myself repeatedly over the head. I wasn't even dating the poor guy! We were not going to be having kids any time soon. Definitly not. Wow, I have serious mental issues.

I had to think of something interesting to say, and quick, before people began to notice my panic.

"Do you think we should get the others? You know, Remus, Peter, Frank, the girls?" I said this all very fast, making Alice give me a strange look, but I shook my head. I would confess my sins later.

"You know, I think that might be a good idea. The more the merrier, right? Or in this case, the more the faster." James looked at Sirius, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that might actually help. I don't think we should take Peter, though. We might lose him, you know how he is." We all laughed, then became somber again... If something happened to Peter, we didn't know what we would do. Later we learned... well, we decided otherwise, anyways. That's another part of the story.

Later

After recruiting Remus, Frank, Kristen, and Kelli, we all met at the Potters to decide what our Apparition point would be, and told our parents we were going to the Three Broomsticks. As we were walking out the door, James pulled me aside by my arm. When his finger touched my skin, I could feel my heart going about 30 miles faster than it had been.

Dang, Lils. You've got it bad.

James reached into his robes and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak.

"Lily, take this. If anything happens, I want you to get out of there as quick as you can. I don't want to have form a search party to find you, two. I don't think I could handle that." His eyes bore into mine once again. "I don't ever want to go through what Sirius did yesterday." I felt a tingle run down my spine.

I don't know what made me do it. I know something had to have made me, because what I did was NOT a normal Lily Evans thing to do.

I leaned in and kissed James Potter. Lily Evans just kissed JAMES-BLOODY-POTTER! It was, and I know this sounds corny, magic. Complete, total magic, that made me love myself for being un-Lily like for a moment.

When we finally broke apart, James just stared at me. Just stood there and stared, with confusion in his beautiful hazel eyes. I grinned and walked down the street to join the rest of our friends

Soooooo, how did you like it, dahhhlings? Sorry, I'm kind of on a sugar rush, I just won chocolate at church. I LOVE CHURCH! Anyways, over that capital letters faze now.

Loves,

Sunni


	7. Into the Darkness

Hey homies! So, I just got back from the mall, and I got the awesomest necklace in the world. It's a Pirates of the Carribbean locket (Which is the best friggin movie in the whole friggin world.) and it has a picture of Orlando Bloom on the inside! Yes, sir! I'm obsessed with Pirates, Harry P., and Narnia. I think the Peter off The Lion, the Witch and the Wadrobe is incredibly hot. lol.

Disclaimer: This all belongs to Jo Rowling. Except the O.C.'s, the plot, and the webticans, the creatures I made up for this chapter. Those are mine, so don't even try to sue me for them. All you'll get anyways is a ball of string, a kitten named Lily, and a poster of my (notice the possesive pronoun) Orlando Bloom.

A/N: This is going be an extremely important chapter, BTW. Read below to find out why!

IMPORTANT: I've decided to change it up, but it's only for this chapter and the next one. I'm going to be rotating with Lily and James' P.O.V. because I want to get this all into one chapter. Also, major fluff ahead! Okay, maybe not that much, but a lot of hand holding and a mention of the "L" word. (drum roll please.) Gasp!

Chapter 7: Into the Darkness

I just stood there, rooted to the spot. I was in shock. My dreams just came true.

Lily Evans just kissed me.

Wow. I felt like the luckiest guy in the world, no doubt about it. in fact, I think I was in a trance as I hurried after my friends and Apparated to the Three Broomsticks. I was in a trance until we got to the Hogwarts gates, at any rate. That was when all my marvelous friends (and the love of my life) brought me crashing back to Earth.

"How are we going to get inside the gate?" We all looked at each other, stunned that we hadn't thought of this minor drawback yet.

"Do they lock the gates during the summer? I mean, why would anyone want to seige a school when there isn't anyone inside to torture?" Sirius shrugged his shoulders at Kristen's questions, and moved forward to push the gates. Suprisingly, they opened.

"Well, that was easier than expected." Remus looked worried at this new piece of information, as if it was all a trap.

"I still don't understand what they would want with Abby." Kelli looked like she was about to burst into tears. I felt bad for her. Actually, I felt bad for us all. Our best friend taken by Voldemort, after her parents were killed. What kind of a summer is that?

I turned and smirked at Sirius as Remus put his arm around Kelli's shoulders. He would never own up to it, but he had it bad for that girl, and from what I learned from Abby, and Frank, (whom had heard it from Alice) Kelli felt the same way. If he felt about her the way I felt about Lily, we need to get those two together, and soon.

As we approached Hagrid's small hut on the outskirts of the Black Forest, we stopped our bantering. We certainly didn't want anyone to dicover us, and tell us to go home. No one would believe Sirius about the Forbidden Forest, that was for sure, and we couldn't lose Abby. I don't know what we would do if we did.

I chanced a sideways glance at Lily, to see how she was holding up. Her beautiful face had a look of grim determination on it, like at The Little Nu when we had encountered Bellatrix Black. I wish she never had to wear that expression again. I wish evil couldn't touch us, that we could have grown up in a fairy tale world were no one ever fights, there's always candy, and there are rainbows even when it doesn't rain. That sounded like the perfect world for me, and I was surrounded by all the people I needed in it, save Abby, my parents, Hagrid, Dumbledore, Madame Pomfrey, and McGonagall. Yes, Minerva. She was my favorite teacher, after all, considering Transfiguration was my favorite subject. (Go figure, huh, since I AM an Animagi.)

As we neared the Forest, we all stopped to brace ourselves. Looking in through those sisister branches, I felt something seize me. It wasn't fear. I wasn't scared of the Forest, and I realized I didn't fear Voldemort either. I feared what he could do, yeah, but not him.

No, I think that feeling was dread. Dread that we were too late, and Abby was already gone. Dread that something would happen to Lily, or Sirius, or any of my other friends while we were there. No, I didn't dread anything happening to me. I wasn't that important, I kept telling myself. I calmed myself down with the fact that Lily had the cloak. She would be able to get away.

As we walked into the darkness of the Forest, we could hear the calls of Dark and magical creatures, we could hear the footsteps of the unicorns and the centaurs. As dead as this forest may look, I thought, it was alive. It was alive, and it was evil. I had certainly never realized that in any of our outing during the full moons. I was too caught up in the thrill of the moment.

With another glance at Lily, who was right in front of me, I wondered how she would react if she found out we were Animagi. I knew she knew about Remus' furry little problem, but if she found out Sirius, Peter and I were doing something illegal once a month, I thought she might flip. It was going to be so hard to tell her, but I just couldn't leave her in the dark. That's not how I work in real relationships.

'Whoa, Potter.' I said to myself. I needed to slow down. I wasn't IN a realationship with Evans, as much as I may want to be. I didn't have any evidence that Lily even wanted to go out with me.

Besided the fact, that is, that she just kissed me. Oh great, now we're back on that subject again.

There was a shrill call from somewhere to our right, and everyone automatically stiffened, even those who didn't realize what it was. I had been in the forest enough times to recognise a webtican call when I heard one.

A webtican is like a cross between a cat and a weasel. It was usually black, with a cat-like head and a long body. It's claws were about 8 inches long, and green. If it scratches you one time, I'll give you about 5 minutes. Then you're dead. There was a poison in those nails that activatied within 3 minutes of entering your blood stream. So that leaves you, once again, about 5 minutes to get to a Healer or a medi-witch, like Madame Pomfrey.

But the main difference you notice right off is the webtican's size. It's not the size of a housecat, or that of an average weasel. As a matter of fact, it's about the size of a full-grown great dane. And it's jaws had about the strength of one. Once it got you, it didn't let go.

I felt someone grab my hand, and I knew without looking it was Lily. I could tell by the way tingles were running up my arm.

"Whatis that?" Kristen's voice was incredibly shaky, especially for someone who, like Lily, usually never lost her cool.

"It's a webtican." Sirius looked at me, and I nodded. "Stay away from it's claws, because they're poisonous. The only thing to get it to back of is water, because nothing else can penetrate it's fur, not even Avada Kedavra. And now that it's realized we're here, it's going to come after us." Lily laughed, and Remus, Sirius andI looked at her questioningly.

"Webticans aren't real. They're mystical creatures!" Her eyes were dancing with amuse ment as I watched something black fall to the ground behind her. I pulled her closer and we began to back away from the creature, with Lily's back facing it.

"Wanna bet?" I whispered in her ear. She looked at me for a fraction of a second, her eyes wide, before she whirled around.

"It may be a mystical creature outside this forest, darling, but in here anything can happen. There are dozens of webticans in here." I paused before addressing the whole group. "Even though water is the only thing to make it back off, you never attack a webtican if you can help it, because there are always more around, and if they were to hear the cry of another, they would be here in a second." I looked at Remus expectantly, and he rolled his eyes as he pulled out his wand.

Muttering some kind of incantation under his breath, a burst of light came from te end of his wand. We were suddenly surrounded by some sort of bubble, which was made out of water. I still have no idea how he does that, or even what spell he uses. It's incredibly impressive magic. To do that with fire is one thing, but water? 

"How are we going to keep moving?" Kelli looked awestruck, as did everyone else. They realized the Marauders had even more tricks up their sleeves than everyone thought.

"It moves with us." Remus demonstrated by taking a step forward. The water moved forward with him and pulled Lily and I, who were at the back fo the group, along with it. Lily was in shock that he knew a charm she didn't.

"Remus, that's amazing. How did you do that?" I looked at Sirius, who broke into a grin.

"Marauder tricks." We all chorused at the same time. Everyone, including Sirius, Remus and I, turned to look at Frank, who had said our line at the same time we had. He shrugged.

"I'm roommates with these idiots. You think I don't know their punch lines?" We all laughed until Lily quieted us down.

"Are you daft? We're in here looking for Death Eaters and you four are over there giggling like little 12 year old girls. Morons!" We almost burst into unnecessary giggles again, but the look on her face was warning enough. Lily was living proof of the 'red headed temper.' Don't get on her bad side if you can help it, trust me. Been there, done that.

As we walked through the forest, the bubble decided to stop glowing, therefore leaving us in complete darkness. Sirius lit his wand, but the rest of us left stayed in darkness, just following him. One lit wand was suspicious looking enough for all of us.

I reached over and grabbed Lily's hand in the darkness. The sliver of face that I could see in the wand light flushed, and I started. Since when did I have this effect on LILY EVANS? I longed to ask her that, but we were not alone and now was not the time to talk about that anyways. Abby was missing, and we were in the middle of an enchanted forest. So instead, I leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"Lily Eans, blushing? You've got to be kidding me!" Lily looked up at me and scowled.

"I bet I can make you blush, too, Potter." I tried to look skeptical, but I couldn't help grinning. She had me wrapped around her finger and she knew it. What was it with this girl that made me love her so gosh darn much?

"Oh yeah? Prove it." I knew she would. Lily Evand couldn't resist a challenge. I'd known that when I met her at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor when we were 11. She had just found out about the wizarding world, and didn't wasnt to draw any unwanted attention to herself, but when I had dared her to stick her face into that ice cream sundae, she had grinned like a maniac and proceeded to do so. I still can't remember why she didn't like me, but I had know that very day that this was the girl I was going to marry. I'd even told Sirius that, and he laughed at me.

But at any rate, I knew Lily Evans, andI knew she wouldn't be able to resist my challenge.

Leaning over, her lips touched mine softly. So softly, in fact, I didn't even have time to respond before she had pulled back. Releasing my hand, she skipped ahead to join Kelli and Alice. I felt my face flush, and I knew she had won. Darn that Lily Evans!

I didn't realize, at first, that Kristen was nowhere to be seen. Looking around at all my friends up ahead of me, I thought I was bringing up the rear. That was until a voice behind me made me jump.

"I so saw that." Spinning around to see who was speakin, I realized that Kristen had been behind us the whole time. She grinned cheekily as she fell into step with me.

"You really like her, huh, Potter?" I scowled, wishing people would stop asking me that. Isn't it obvious that I don't just like her?

"No, Kristen," I said, an exhasperated look on my face. i opened my mouth to continue on, but she cut me off, and she looked angry.

"Oh, so you're just toying with her affections like you've done every other femal at Hogwarts? Lily's better than that, James, I thought you knew that. Obviously I was wrong." Her voice was cold, and she turned to walk away, but I grabbed her arm.

"You didn't let me finish, Kristen. I don't just like Lily. I'm in love with her, I thought everyone knew that. If I just had some silly little crush on her you think I would have gone through all that trouble these last couple of years just to be turned down?" Kristen looked at me in amazement, then hung her head guiltily.

"Sorry for that tirade, James. I'm just so sick of all my friends being hurt. I mean, Lily's parents, and now Abby. They shouldn't have to deal with all of that; no one should." I nodded, at a loss for words. It was clear to me now that these girls were, if not more, just as close as the Marauders were.

Lily's P.O.V.

Instead of paying attention to the conversation I just entered, I glanced over my shoulder to see james, still red-faced and wide-eyed, talking with Kristen, who had obviously been behind us the whole time. I grinned as I realized she had seen the whole thing, and I knew that's what they were talking about.

I knew eaves dropping was wrong, and I knew I shouldn't be doing it right then. But I also knew they were talking about me. So I slowed down a little, trying to catch on to their words.

"You really like her, huh, Potter?" I heard Kristen's voice, and I felt my ears perk up a bit. I'd been wanting to ask this question since the day of my parents' funeral.

"No, Kristen." My heart dropped through my feet as I listened to Kristen go into an angry tirade about how he shouldn't just treat me like a toy. I stayed behind just to hear how James' responded to her. Glancing over my shoulder to throw him a glare, I saw him grab Kristen's arm and bring them bothe to a standstill.

"You didn't let me finish, Kristen. I don't just like Lily. I'm in love with her." I knew he was saying more, but I didn't hang back to listen. I felt like I was floating on air, like I had the first time I used my wand. Like nothing could puncture this bubble of hope that surrounded my heart the way this water bubble surrounded my friends and I. I was elated.

I skipped back into Alice's conversation with Kelli and Remus about how threstals weren't really all that scary, but once again, I wasn't really paying attention. I kept replaying James' words over in my head. '"I'm in love with her."' Have you ever had someone say that about you? It's the best feeling in the world.

"Right, Lily?" Oh. My cheeks burned as I realize I had been asked a question about the conversation I was paying no attention to. I turned to Remus, who had spoken.

"Er- Reapeat the question?" They all laughed, though quietly. Alice leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"Just go back to dreaming about James, darling. No one cares anyway." If I flushed any deeper I was going to turn a purple Vernon Dursley would have been proud of. YUCK!

"What was that?" I knew the question came from Sirius, who was leading our little search party, and he sounded panicked. Which automatically terrified me, because NOTHING scared Sirius Black, except maybe spiders. Oh yeah, and Lord Voldemort.

I saw something large, hairy, and leggy. (A/N Okay, that may or may not be a word, but this IS my story afterall.) Arachnids. Oh, come one, I'm already terrified of spiders, now GIANT SPIDERS are attacking me. Don't I have a lovely life?

I bit back a scream as I quickly stepped backwards, were I hit something large and warm. James and I tumbled backwards and fell through our gian bubble of water. GREAT!

Now, not only were we outside the only thing keeping us from being savaged by the webticans following us, there's a giant spider about to pick me up. What an awesome evening.

This time, I did scream, and buried my head in James' chest. I could feel the air moving behind me as those pinchers came towards James and I. I completely forgot I had 6 of my best friends standing right behind me, and that they surely wouldn't let me die. I heard 6 different voices yell "Reducto!" just as James rolled over. Always playing hero, trying to be the one to die.

As I saw (and felt) the spider fall to the ground beside us, I felt something cool pass over me. I looked up to see that my friends had moved closer to us, so that we were back inside our 'protective bubble.' I grinned against James chest.

"James, as much as I'm enjoying this, you're suffocating me." My voice came out muffled, seeing as my head was pushed against a cotton T-shirt. He flushed again as he rose to his feet and dusted off his robes. Ha! How many girls can say they made James Potter blush? Two. Me and his mother, of course.

I put my hand out for someone to help me up, and to my disapointment it was Sirius who grasped it. As he pulled me up, he whispered in my ear. 

"I'm no James, sorry. But I am better looking." I stifled a laugh as I looked around at everyone.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go save Abby!" As we started off again, I glanced into the shadows behind us. The webticans were still following us, and I have to admit, I was scared to death of those things. I wasn't in the mood to get poisoned, now or ever.

"Scared, Lilykins?" I turned around to see James' trademark grin, and I felt my knees turn to water. Grasping his hand, I sent him a cheeky smile.

"Not anymore, Potter. Not anymore."

Hey guy, so how did you like it, was it okay? PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Thanx for all the support, home sausages, and I'm over and out.

Sunni Bunni loves you! 


	8. Fighting Shadows

Hello everyone! Sorry this took so long, I had to babysit Saturday night and then I had to go to church Sunday morning and I typed half of this Sunday afternoon but then I had to go to Vacation Bible School (blah! what a mouthfull!) and then I had to babysit again today so, yeah, I'm glad everyone liked my last chapter so much. Some people even said it was my best one yet! Was it? IDK. But okay, so here's what you've all been waiting for! (or some of you have anyways!)

IMPORTANT: This is still going to rotate between L. and J. p.o.v's. I'm going to do that until I get them out of the forest. This chapter is going to be mostly Lily, however, with a little bit of James added on.  
Chapter 7- Fighting Shadows James p.o.v.

I squeezed Lily's hand as we fell back into our respective place in the back of the group. I liked being in the back, just walking with Lily in compatible silence. It felt so... perfect, I guess. Like that's the way thing's were always supposed to be. It was one of the best feelings in the world.

I knew everyone else realized we were holding hands, but I didn't care. Why would I care? I had waited 6 years for this moment, and now that it was here, I felt like flaunting it. As a matter of fact, I would have, if Lily hadn't been so modest. She wouldn't be like that after a couple of weeks hanging around the Marauders. (And Frank.) No one was.

As we walked through the forest in silence, we all remained on the lookout for any form of human life, but we found nothing for the longest time.

"What on Earth is that?" Lily was whispering in my ear, making me tingle all over, but now wasnt' the time for that.

"I don't have any idea," I stated as I pulled her closer to me, watching the dark figure up ahead move swiftly through the trees, glancing left and right while holding up a lit wand. The Giant Water Bubble (as I had come to call it in my head) might keep out webticans, but it didn't keep out people or their spells.

"Knox." Sirius, up ahead, put out his wand and stretched his hand out to Kelli. Slowly, we made a sort of human chain, to ensure we all stayed together while we followed the shadow guy. Sirius was at the front and I was in back, with everyone else in-between the two of us. I could feel Lily's hand shaking in mine, so I leaned over to comfort her.

"Lils, it's going to be okay. We're just going to get Abby and rush out of there. Hopefully they won't even realized that we're there, but if they do, you have the cloak." When I finished my sentence, she shook her head.

"I'm not just worried for myself, James. I'm worried for you, and Sirius, an-and Abby, and everyone else. I... I don't kn-know what I would do without you guys." Even in the darkness, I could see her bright eyes swimming with tears. Using my free hand, I wiped them away.

"Lily, we can do this. We're smart. We're all coming out alive, I promise. Maybe a few scratches, but we'll be okay."

"I hope you're right, James."

Continuing in silence, the figure eventually led us to a clearing, which I thought must be in the very heart of the forest. From the edge of the clearing, cloaked in shadows, we watched as the figure approached the man in the middle of the large group and kneeled before him. Although we couldn't see his face, I knew it was Voldemort. Remembering the way he whispered Lily's name, I clutched her hand tighter. She sent me a questioning look, but I just shook my head, glad I had given her the cloak.

Lily p.o.v.

No. Way.

Sirius was actually right. They had Abby in the middle of the Forbidden Forest. I thought Voldemort was supposed to be an evil GENIUS, not an evil idiot. What was his problem?

I don't know if anyone else saw her at first. I wasn't sure in the beginning that I had really seen her, but she was there, in the middle of a group of Death Eaters. Our Abby, tied up like that.

She looked horrible, as did Kelsey, who was crying, sending streaks down her dirty face. They were covered in scratches and bruises, and their robes were frayed and dirty, with grass stains on and near the knees. It was killing me to see her like this, so I didn't even want to know what it was doing to Sirius, considering the way he reacted when she was abducted.

I felt James clutch my hand, and I glanced at him, but he shook his head. I mentally shrugged and leaned into him as we watched the scene in front of us unfold.

"What do you know of their plans, girl?" A high, shrill voice erupted in the clearing, and I shivered. The hooded figure was towering over her head as she sobbed. I knew Abby, who was already quiet and shy, was terrified of this evil man, whom I knew to be Voldemort.

"I realize you are young, but surely they must have told you? You are their child, afterall." Once again, Abby shook her head, her eyes round as they scanned the trees, looking for a way to escape. When her brown orbs found us, they nearly fell out of their sockets, bu she kept her mouth shut. I saw her lock eyes with Sirius, and I could tell by the way his face contorted he was angry. Putting my hand on his arm, I leaned over James towards him.

"Sirius, calm down. We're going to get her, we just need a plan." Sirius turned to look at me, his eyes pleading.

"Lily, I can't just leave her in there like that. He's going to hurt her!" I looked at him sharply, narrowing my eyes.

"Would you rather charge in there in a blind rage and get her caught in the crossfire? Do you think that would be a good idea, Sirius? We need a plan!"

"Well, what do you suggest, Lily?" His voice was cold, and I knew he didn't want to leave Abby in there any longer than necessary. Well, neither did I.

"I don't know, Sirius. I was hoping someone else could help me out here. Any takers?" I looked around at all my friends. Never tell a Marauder they can't do something. I could practically see their brains working, trying to come up with something. Finally, Remus stepped forward.

"We need some sort of distraction." He turned to look at James. "You have the cloak, don't you?" James nodded, looking at me.

"Yeah, Lily's got it." Remus raised his eyebrows, but thankfully said nothing.

"Right. Well, we need two people to make their way to the other side of the clearing, then create some sort of distraction. I don't care what, Stun one of the Death Eaters or something. Just do what you can to get a few of them over there so you can take them out. Then, the rest of us will go in and distract the others, while whoever has the cloak goes to get Abby and Kelsey. So, who volunteers for what job?" Sirius started forward immediately.

"Give me the cloak." No one questioned him motives, just watched silently as I pulled the cloak out of my robes and handed it to him. James looked at me.

"Lily and I will distract them. How will we know when you're ready?" Remus looked over at him.

"Just do it whenever you get over there. We'll be waiting." James nodded and, grabbing my hand, we silently made our way around the clearing, watching Voldemort and Abby the whole time. He was still interogating Abby, who, the poor girl, continued to shake her head. Voldemort finally got sick of her antics and raised his wand.

"If you do not wish to tell me, perhaps you could use some persuasion?" Abby shook her head and spoke up for the first time since we had noticed her.

"Please, please. I don't know what you're talking about! I honestly don't." Voldemort looked livid, and I wondered why he couldn't she was telling the truth. Hadn't Dumbledore said he was a master Legillimens?

"Enough of your petty lies, girl. Crucio!" I let out a cry that was lost in Abby's screams. I hurried along, pulling James behind me, until we were directly across from Sirius and the others. I pulled out my wand and prepared to run.

"Stupefy!" I shouted at the same time James, beside me, did the same thing. We turned on our heels and ran, sprinting into the trees. I glanced behind me to see 2 Death Eaters fall to the ground, 4 or 5 of them jumping over the others to follow us. 

Stopping by a large tree, James boosted me to the first branch and started climbing up after me. When I got to about the 5 branch, which was a good 60 feet up in the air, I sat down and moved over so he could join me on the limb.

Putting my finger to my lips, I pointed to the large Death Eater that had just entered our sight range. I stifled a giggle as he stopped to put his hands on his knees, huffing and puffing, and looked around to see where we had gone to. James pulled out his wand.

"Petrificus Totalus!" I couldn't help but laugh this time as the great man fell to the ground, his arms and legs frozen to his sides. His eyes darted back and forth through the holes in his mask and finally found us in the tree. If his face could have expressed emotion, I'm pretty sure his face would contort in rage. We froze as 4 more followed in his footsteps and found him lying on the ground. 

'Levicorpus!' I thought with an upward flick of my wand. That took care of one of them. I sent a stunner at a large blonde, catching him round the middle, at the same time James took out a lumpy man with some sort of strange spell.

The only Death Eater left, a woman with silky blonde hair, looked around angrily in search of the attackers. James also did something to her, but I'm not sure what it was. As she crumpled to the ground I couldn't help but let out a gasp of recognition.

"Narcissa Black?" I whirled around to stare at James, who had an unreadable expression on his face. It was Sirius' cousin, Bella's sister. "She didn't seem like the type to... well, you know. I mean, she was horrible, but not completely crazy, like her sister." James shook his head.

"It doesn't suprise me. And it's Narcissa Malfoy now." James glanced at me. "She married that pig Lucius." I almost burst out laughing. Someone married that disgusting... thing? 

"So she is crazy!" James nodded, though solemnly.

"Don't tell Sirius about this. He already hates his family enough. Come on, we need to go find the others." So once again, we set of towards the clearing. Arriving, we found an all-out war zone. 

Kelli was on her back, her head bleeding. Remus, Frank, Kristen and Alice were still battling with the last four Death Eaters, and Sirius, Abby, nor Kelsey were anywhere to be seen. I knew that meant Sirius had gotten them to safety, but I was still worried. What if Voldemort had taken them and Sirius was following them under the cloak? What if they were all lying dead somewhere were we would never find them? Every possibility ran through my head, leaving me panicked. 

It was just all too much to handle in two weeks. All these deaths, injuries, abductions. It kinda took the joy out of life, you know? I shook my head, trying to clear it of all these horrible thoughts and memories. Now was not the time to wallow in self-pity. Now was the time to be fighting for what we believed in. 

Pulling out my wand, I shrieked as a Killing Curse flew by me. These Death Eaters played dirty. I stunned a lumpy woman with her back to me, who was practically dancing as she tried to avoid the hexes Remus was rapidly aiming at her. Remus flashed me a grateful smile before he turned quickly and rushed to Kelli's side. I turned just in time to see a Death Eater hit Alice with some kind of spell that knocked her out cold. I pointed my wand at him.

"Petrificus Totalus!" The man quickly performed a shield charm and I had to duck to avoid being hit with my own spell. The man grinned cheekily under his mask.

"You're a pretty one. Sure you want to waste your time on these little boys? Because I can show you what a real good time is." I laughed haughtily as I looked over at James, who was helping Frank of the ground.

"You better be glad my boyfriend didn't hear that, or he would have castrated you." I know. I called James Potter my boyfriend. Don't make a big deal out of it, I'm just trying to freak the Death Eater out. 

I was saying the same thing inside of my head.

"I'm not worried about your puny little boyfriend. He can kiss my ar-" Catching him off guard, I put him under the full-body bind, laughing as he fell to the ground. 

"You should be worried about my puny little boyfriend. If I can take you out that easily, he can dance circles around you." I carefully stepped on the man's fingers as I strode over to where James, Alice, Kristen and Frank were standing.

"So where's Sirius with the girls?" I asked tentatively, praying for no bad news. 

"Right behind you." I turned around to find Sirius grinning cheekily at me, holding both girls' hands in his own. I squealed and hugged each of them in turn. Sirius looked a little suprised when I reached him.

"You know, Lily-bean, if this had been a year ago, you would be strangling me right about... now." I pretended to put my hands around his neck and shake, but I couldn't because I was laughing so hard. Then I stopped.

"I'm so glad you're all okay!" As abruptly as I had begun laughing, I began to sob into Sirius' shoulder. He patted me awkwardly on the back for a moment before I felt another pair of hands slowly pry me off him. I knew it was James as I fell into his arms and cried my heart out. I rolled my eyes. Of course it was James. It always was. How ironic.

"Come on, Lils, hush. We have to get out of this dratted forest." He motioned to Remus, who picked up Kelli. She was moaning as they appoached us, but stopped as she snuggled into Remus. I his a grin behind my hand as I shook my head softly. When was that girl going to realize how bad she had it for him?

What a hypocrite, a small voice in the back of my head stated. When are you going to realize how bad you have it for James. I mentally shook my head. But I don't! I argued with the small voice. 

Oh, yes, you do. What an irritating voice. It was so happy and cheerful and sounded so much like Alice. Why did I have friends if there were people inside my head to talk to.

I continued to have a verbal tennis match inside my head the whole time we walked through the forest, surrounded by out Giant Bubble. I kept telling myself that it was just a little crush and that I really, really, REALLY needed some sleep. 

And whatever my mental Alice said, I was NOT falling for James Potter. 


	9. Howlers and Beach Houses

Hello Everyone! I'm going to get a head start on this chapter because I only had to babysit for a few hours today so I'm in the writing mood. (lol, I didn't know there was a mood until today!) But yeah, anyways, this is just going to be James because most of the last chapter was Lily. I'm done rotating, I think, unless ya'll like that better. If you do, review or send me a message and tell me, and if more people want me to then I probably will. Gotta keep my numbers up! lol, j/k. I love writing this story and I love all my reviewers!

Chapter 9: Howlers, Secret Houses, and Interesting Pictures

My parents were extremely paranoid after they found out what happened. Voldemort was sure to come after us now that we had once again thwarted his plans. And now that they were Kelsey and Abby's legal guardians, they talked with the Comptons, and decided they were going to take action.

Meaning they were sending us of to some remote island with no one else there but us, and some wild animals, and the whole we were going to be staying on was going to be under the Fidelius Charm, with my mother as the Secret Keeper. That way no one would know were we where except us, our parents, and Dumbledore, of course, who was actually arranging the whole thing. 

Not that I was complaining. Considering I was going to be on a remote island with a beach, lots of trees, and all of my best friends, even Peter. Remus was coming to stay, as were Kelli and Kristen, because my mother had convinced their parents that this was the best thing for us to do. Voldemort probably still had no knowledge Peter even existed, but it seemed like we were going on vacation and I wanted him along for all the fun.

So actually, my parents paranoia was going to be the reason for the best summer of my life. I was going to live on a beach for two and a half months. You can hardly call that torture.

So you can imagine why, three days after our outing in the Forbidden Forest, I awoke with a smile on my face. Jumping out of bed, I ran across the hall to Abby's room.

"Abby LeeAnn Grey, if you don't wake up right this instant I'm going to..." I hadn't really looked at her before I started ranting, because Abby is always hard to wake up. Abby and Kelsey had both been mopy the last few days, which is understandable. So I was extremely surprised when I turned from playing with her alarm clock on her desk to find her sitting up in bed, eyes open and her mouth in a smile.

"What are you so happy about?" 

"Nothing. Is it so bad for me to wake up with a smile?" She narrowed her dark eyes playfully, but I shook my head.

"Leelee, you truly are a character." She burst into laughter, and I looked at her curiously.

"What?"

"You haven't called me Leelee since we were, like, six." She was still laughing so hard she could barely breath, so I don't know how I could understand that. I guess it waas because I was fluent in Abby talk. Rolling my eyes, I walked over to her, pulled her out of bed, and pushed her towards her dresser.

"I'm going to go wake Sirius and Kelsey. You get dressed and meet us downstairs." Abby gave me a quick glance over. 

"How come I have to get dressed and you don't?" She asked as if she expected an adequate question.

"Er... because I'm lazy?" She shook her head and pushed me into the hallway, shutting the door in my face. 

"I love you too, Leelee!" I hollered through her door before turning towards Sirius' room to go and wake him. Suprisingly, I found him leaning against the door frame, his eyes narrowed.

"What were you doing in Abby's room at 7 o'clock in the morning?" He asked suspicously. I rolled my eyes at him. Sometimes he acted really stupid.

"Sirius, why do you even have to ask that question? I've known Abby since we were BORN! The thought of doing anything like... that with her makes me sick to my stomach. You know I don't want Abby!" Sirius just looked at me a second before nodding.

"Yeah, I know." I grinned cheekily.

"But if I wanted her I could have her." I didn't here the door to Kelsey's room open and close.

"I don't think so, Jamesie-poo. All I've heard from Abby since she got back from The Little Nu with you guys is how cute Sirius is, how sweet he is, how funny he is. It's enough to make me sick." 

Kelsey, who was 15, was trying very hard to keep a straight face. I narrowed my eyes and playfully lunged for her. Tackling her, I pinned her to the hallway floor and began tickling her. Her giggles drew Abby from her room, a toothbrush in hand.

"Potter, stop molesting my little sister. She's not Lily, despite the green eyes, and she's too young for you. Plus you're grossing me out, sitting on her like that." I rose from the ground and poked Abby in the forehead. 

"You're about as bad as Sirius is, doophus." Abby looked from me to him with a questioning look. "This idiot is going to suspicously ask me what I'm doing in your room at 7 o'clock in the morning, like we've been doing something indecent." I sniffed, my nose in the air. "I am not that kind of person, Sirius Black." All three of my friends burst into giggles, but especially Kelsey.

"Tell that to Natalie McNew. She was trying to tell me you and her... well, you know. And I was like, gross, that's as bad as telling me she's been doing something with my brother. And she was all, 'Oh, are you close to him?' Yeah, I've only known him my whole life!" I was highly affronted.

"Natalie McNew? Never in a million years! She's pretty and all, but she's too bossy." Abby and Sirius exchanged a significant look, and I felt my heart drop into my stomach. "I did do something with her, didn't I? Oh no, oh no! You can't tell Lily this, understand? You can't!" The two of them bust out laughing.

"You idiot. It was in 5th year, and the only reason you were snogging her was because Lilykins had turned you down for the HUNDRETH time, and you were depressed. And then you came back to the common room even more depressed, and I asked you what was wrong. Can you remember who was a Prefect that year, other that Moony? Lily caught you guys, nimrod." My mouth dropped open in horror. Lily had caught me snogging another girl? Oh, crap. 

Abby put her hand on my arm. 

"James, calm down, NOW! It was in 5th year, and Lily hated you, and she was actually glad to finally be able to give you a detention. Now, if you're planning on meeting up with Natalie anytime this year, you better cancel because I think Lily would go into depression." I looked up at her in surprise.

"No she wouldn't." Sirius snorted.

"Bull crap, she wouldn't. I made her blush just by mentioning you the other day when we were in the Forest." I looked at him sharply.

"Don't tease her, Padfoot." Kelsey suddenly brought herself back into the conversation by bursting into giggles.

"What's so funny all of a sudden?" Abby was looking at her sister worriedly, as if she might have lost her mind due to trauma.

"Oh, Katie Prinze is going to kill Lily when we get back to school." Kelsey looked at me, her eyes laughing. I sudenly realized what she was talking about.

"Shit! Someone go get me some parchment and a quill!" Sirius and Abby just stared at us, probably debating whether or not to call St. Mungo's. "I'm still going out with Katie! I forgot all about it!" They looked at each other before they too burst into laughter. I was obviously going to have to deal with this very horrible situation on my own. Rushing into my room, I was rummaging around in my desk drawers looking for a quill when an owl came soaring through the window. I didn't recognize it, but it was carrying a bright red letter.

"What now?" I knew I was whining, but I honestly didn't care. I was tired of all this drama. (Little did I know that that's what you get when you lock up 10 teenagers together.) I walked back out into the hallway just as the envelope began to smoke. Abby's door was closed again, and I could hear Sirius' voice on the other side of the door, so instead of just barging in like I would usually do, I hollered for them all.

"Sirius, Abby, Kelsey! You want to come listen to my Howler, don't you?" Automatically, both doors opened and all three filed out. Kelsey immediately began questioning me.

"Who's it from? Does it have a name?" I just shook my head at her and nodded towards the envelope as it burst into flames. A loud, female voice filled my hallway.

"JAMES BLOODY POTTER! YOU HAVEN'T COME TO SEE ME, OR OWLED ME, OR TRIED TO CONTACT ME IN ANY BLOODY WAY WHATSOEVER! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND AND THIS IS HOW YOU BLOODY TREAT ME? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME BYE ON THE TRAIN BECAUSE YOU WERE TO BUSY WITH LILY FREAKING EVANS! I'M GOING TO KILL HER, YOU JUST WAIT! IT'S OVER, POTTER. OVER!" 

A stunned silence filled the house, and I was sure even my parents had heard my screaming letter. I slowly began to laugh. 

"How ironic. I was about to write her a letter. You know, if I wrote her a letter right now, acting like nothing had happened, she would so take me back like that!" I snapped my fingers. Kelsey laughed.

"She would. She's a two-timing bimbo, though, and you'd do well to stay away from her. I was going to hex her when we got back to Hogwarts, anyways." She looked livid, and I raised my eyebrows.

"May I ask why?" Kelsey rolled her eyes.

"A, Blake Daniels cheated on me with her when we were together this year. B, she's daring you and two-timing bimbos don't need to date my big brother." She grinned cheekily at me. "I love meddling in your life, James." I narrowed my eyes.

"Daniels cheated on you?" It took me a minute to realize Sirius and I had asked to question simultaniously. We looked at each other and the girls laughed.

"Yes, my chivalrous heroes, he did. You don't have to go riding off into the sunset tonight to hex him, though. We have to leave." I growled.

"Okay, I'll wait until we get back to Hogwarts. But I am going to hurt him." Sirius nodded his head vigorously.

"You don't mess with a Marauder or their friends. There are consequences." Kelsey put a hand to her heart and pretended to swoon. We all rolled our eyes.

"You guys, we need to get dressed and take our trunks and stuff downstairs so we can go ahead and leave." Sirius, Kelsey and I nodded at Abby and went about our way to get ready for a much better summer than we had anticipated.

Later

The 10 of us stood in the living room of our beach house looking around in awe. 

It was decorated in Gryffindor colors, red and gold, and the carpets were deep and soft. The red couches grouped around the large stone fireplace and the golden walls stood out beautifully. Lily and Remus freaked out when they noticed all the books that donned the walls, and immediately hurried over to look at them all. Kelli and Kristen were nearly swooning over a large picture in the corner of a lion and a man I assumed to be Godric Gryffindor in his teens. He was very good looking, but it was only a picture, for goodness sakes. Peter, Abby and Kelsey were examining the magazines on the coffee table.

Sirius and I, however, just stood there trying to drink it all in. Dumbledore MUST have done this. Who else would know us that well? Not even our parents. Dumbledore wasn't all-knowing, of course, but sometimes he sure did seem like he was.

"It's bigger than your house, James." Sirius was beside me, whispering in shock. I knew he had never felt this welcome anywhere besides Hogwarts and my house. 

"I know." I was whispering too.

"Okay, you guys, stop coming up with some evil little plan and let's go check out our rooms." I knew that voice. Turning around quickly I found Lily with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face. "Never leave two Marauders alone together, or they'll come up with some crazy plan to prank the world." I grinned. Lily sure had an imagination.

"We weren't planning anything, Lilykins. Just talking about the house." Lily nodded.

"Sure you were. Now let's go look at our rooms!" She added a whiny note to the last sentence and stomped her foot. Sirius and I nodded, afraid of being hexed, and she led the way up the stairs. When we reached the hallway, Lily gasped in shock. There were golden plaques on every door, showing a name in writing. But the funny thing about it was, it was our own writing. Lily's was a neat, pretty cursive. Mine, across the hall, was an untidy scrawl, and Sirius' was rather large print.

"That's amazing. It's so cool!" Sirius was almost laughing at Lily's enthusiasm, but I gave him a pointed look and he shut his mouth. He was NOT going to tease her.

"Let's go look at my room first." Lily pulled us into the room marked Lily Evans and we all gasped. There were pictures all around the room, pictures that I was sure had never been taken. Like the one of all 9 of us, plus Kelsey, together in front of the lake at Hogwarts. Or the one of Sirius and Abby holding hands. Or the one of me and Lily together. It was amazing.

"I think they're pictures of what's most important to me. Because I know they were never taken. I would have never stood in front of the lake with you guys long enough to take a picture about a month ago. Someone would have come out with some very ugly bruises." I grinned sheepishly.

"And it probably would have been me." Lily looked at me and laughed, nodding her head in agreement.

"Yes, it probably would have been."

Later

I lay on a cot on the balcony adjoined to my room, looking up at the stars. I almost laughed when I saw Sirius, the dog star. That was such an amazing coincidence that his Animagi form was a dog. And hilarious at the same time.

"Hey, James." A soft voice came from the open door leading to my bedroom, and I looked up to find Lily's eyes trained on me. I quickly stood up. Her eyes sparkled in amusement. "I just let myself in after I knocked a few times and you didn't answer." I shook my finger jokingly at her.

"Shame on you, Lilykins. I could have been in the shower, or changing." Lily grinned coyly.

"So? Would that disapoint you?" My eyes widened.

"You're a good actress, Lily flower." Lily smirked.

"Who said I was acting?" I gasped in amusement.

"Lily Elizabeth Evans! That's nothing for a prefect and a future Head Girl to say!" She shook her head quickly and shushed me.

"Don't say that, James, you'll jinx me. I won't get it now, and if I do I'll end up working with some crazy moron." I rolled my eyes.

"You will too get it. Don't be stupid." She opened her mouth, then shut it again, grinning.

"I forgot to tell you that I received a very interesting letter today." My eyes widened. What had Sirius done? "It had some very serious death threats issued from a certain Katie Prinze who said I was, and I quote, 'stealing her man.' You wouldn't have anything to do with this, would you?" I bit my lip.

"Yeah. I... I sort of forgot I was going out with her after everything happened with you and Abby, and I haven't sent her a letter since summer started and I guess she saw us on the train together and-" Lily put a finger to my lips to shush me. 

"As interesting as you're love life is James, I really don't care about Katie. You just better not ever do that to me, or I'll castrate you." My eyes widened and my heart lifted as Lily blushed, realizing what she said.

"Are you asking me out, Evans." Lily looked up and grinned coyly.

"Me? Of course not. It's not ladylike." I looked at her apprehensively.

"Well then, will you-" 

"No." I felt my heart shatter to a million pieces until she leaned over and quickly brushed her lips against mine. "I want you to pine for me." I glared at her.

"I already am, you evil hussy." Lily just grinned at me and turned on her heel, flouncing through the sliding doors and into my bedroom. I followed her and entered the room just as she was leaving.

"I hate you, Lily Evans!" I was just joking, of course, and she knew it, because she turned around and grinned at me.

"No you don't, Potter. Exactly the opposite, as a matter of fact." I knew she was right. I could never hate her. I was head over heels in love with her.

"Yada yada yada. You're still evil. I can't believe you're doing this to me." Lily flashed me a heart-warming smile as she stepped into the hallway.

"Ask me some other time, Potter." She walked into the room across the hall from me and I had the urge to go yank her back, but I didn't, of course. She probably would have killed me.

And whether she knew it or not, I was pining for her. And she was evil. With a capital E.

Okay, so how did you guys like that chapter? The next chapter is going to be about the rest of their summer in that house. I just had that idea earlier on today while I was babysitting and I had to do it.

I love sharks. RAWR! hee hee. I'm eating cheez-its.

Sunni Bunni Loves You Bunches 


	10. Suprise Guests and The Beach

Disclaimer: Yes, I am J.K. Rowling. I was also raised by gorrillas and my grandmother is Santa Claus. Get real, you nimrods.

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Warning: This chapter contains bed hair, sparkling eyes, waves, beards, and heart-to-hearts. Don't say I didn't warn you, cuz I did.

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IMPORTANT A/N: This is Lily's point of view. Oh, and for all of you who are ready for L & J to get together, it doesn't happen in this chapter either. I'm so so so super sorry, and I promise it's for the sake of the plot. Don't worry. It's not just because I don't like you. You guys better be glad I do like ya'll. It's 5 o'clock, in the morning, and I got up early so I could update before I had to go watch demon children. Be glad I like you. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. There is a surprise person joining the group, and it's slightly humorous actually. lol, well, read on, er, readers. he he.

Chapter 10- Summer in Hiding

I lay in bed long after coming from James' room, staring at the ceiling and not really seeing it. Which, the fact that it was pitch black might have contributed to that factor, but if I could see the ceiling I wouldn't really be seeing it. I was shocked at myself.

I was flirting with James-Bloody-Potter! What on Earth was wrong with me?

'You've got a little crush Lily, it's no big deal, really it's not.' I was telling myself this repeatedly, but I was finding it hard to fight that Alice-like voice inside my head. This horrible voice was saying physcho things about how crazy I was for not realizing I was head over heels for him. 

Rubbish! James Potter? Perish the thought. Sure, I might date him, but I'm not in LOVE with him like he says he is with me. And although hearing him say that he was had made me want to skip, I doubted it was true. He just thought I was... well, I don't know. But I seriously doubted he was in it for the long haul. After all, we are talking about playboy James Potter here.

The Next Morning

"You guys, the doorbell just rang. Someone go answer the door." Kelli looked aroung the kitchen with her eyes narrowed, her bed hair menacing enough to make anyone run. Her mouth thinned when no one moved. "NOW!" Peter scampered away at Kelli's shout and she settled back into her seat at the bar, looking satisfied. I scowled at her.

"You and your dominating personality. You live to make other people's lives hell, don't you?" Kelli grinned cheekily at me.

"Most people's lives, yeah. But not all of them." She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Remus, who was, as usual, reading. I almost laughed, but I knew she would kill me if I did, so I satisfied myself with smirking at her and she giggled. 

"Lilykins, you're weird." Sirius walked in, James trailing behind him. I snorted.

"You're really one to talk, idiot." Peter came trailing in behind them, and I glanced up, confused.

"Why were you guys at the door?" James shook his head and Sirius grinned.

"Oh, Lilyflower, you see, it seems we aren't going to be the only ones staying here after all. We have a 'chaperone,' if you can call him that." I raised my eyebrows and James laughed as the door opened.

"Good morning, adolescents." I looked up into the clear blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it yesterday, but my brother Aberforth got into a spot of trouble with one Mundungus Fletcher and I had to clear it up." We all laughed, knowing Mundungus, who had just graduated from Hogwarts this year. But we were also confused. Dumbledore was going to be spending all summer with us?

Dumbledore's sparkling beard was swept over his shoulder as he sat down smartly in the seat beside me, which James had been heading for. I watched James scowl at him from behind as Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. Dumbledore chuckled, and we all turned to look at him, our eyebrows raised. 

"I spend every summer here, but I never thought I would be joined by a group of teenagers and I certainly never thought it would be you." I almost laughed at the thought of Dumbledore lying on the beach, in his sparkling purple robes rubbing sunblock onto his long crooked nose. Apparently James, who was now sitting across from me instead, had the same idea, and I had to avoid his eyes, afraid I would burst into giggles. Dumbledore continued his rant, oblivious to out situation.

"Anyhow, I'm sure you Gryffindors will find some way to amuse me this summer." Kelli, who would speak freely to anyone, giggled.

"Yeah, or you'll find a way to entertain us." Sirius looked up suddenly, looking like a child on Christmas.

"Let's go to the beach!" With that pronouncement, he scurried out of the room and up the stairs, and we could here him pounding along to his room. Laughing and teasing, we made our way upstairs and quickly changed into our bathing suits before we made our way to the sea shore.

Later on the beach

I lay on the beach, crunching the sand beneath my toes, while everyone else played in the water. I wasn't really in the mood to get wet. 

I don't know why I thought I would stay dry long. I was with the Marauders (and Kelli) for goodness sake. They were insane, out of their minds, whatever you wanted to call them. And they were dangerous.

James and Sirius made their way over to me as I pulled on my sunglasses and closed my eyes against the sunlight..

"What do you want?" I asked without looking up. I didn't even have to open my eyes to know the idiots were smirking.

"We want you to have some fun and stop being a dry blanket." I looked up at Sirius, wondering what he was on about.

"I thought the phrase went 'wet blanket,' not dry blanket." I shook my auburn hair back and sat up. James grinned.

"Well, considering your dry and were wet, you are going to be the dry blanket." He exchanged a look with Sirius, and I could see the mischief in his eyes. 'Oh no, I thought to myself, this cannot be good.' 

I watched as Sirius grinned.

"But not for long." In one swift motion, Sirius scooped up my ankles in his hands. I tried to swat him away, only to discover James had grabbed my wrists. I moaned. 

"Let me go!"

"Not a chance," they replied at the same time. To anyone else, it would have sounded rehearsed, but I knew they had just been around each other too long. Every single day for 6 bloody years is way too long to be around Sirius Black or James Potter on their own, but together? You don't want to know.

So that's why I'm telling you.

"Kelli! Abby! Kelsey! Help, please!" You would have thought someone was being murdered, but I didn't care. I would go swimming in a pool, a pond, a lake, anything but the ocean. It was so big, and... never ending, with the sharks, and the waves. It was SCARY! 

It was as if James could sense my fear, like a wolf can sense a sheep or something. He leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"Don't worry Lilykins, I'll protect you from the ickle sharkies." I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.

"Sharks are nothing to joke about. They tear people to pieces, James." He just shrugged his shoulders as he continued walking towards the waves, my body dangling between him and Sirius.

"Do you really think ole' Dumbledore would let us out here if there was something that would tear us to pieces in these waters? I think not." I looked him in his eye, or I did the best I could from my current position. I nodded.

"Yes, well, I do. Dumbledore can be a little strange at times, don't you think?" James looked down at me, a disdainful look in his eye. I sighed, all the blood rushing towards my head.

"James Potter, you know I didn't mean it as an insult. I love Dumbledore as much as you do, so you have absolutely no reason whatsoever to be mad at me." He shrugged once again, and began to wade out into the water behind Sirius. I began to panic.

"You guys, please, you really don't have to do this. Please." Sirius twisted around to look at me with an innocent look on his face.

"I really have no idea what your talking about, Lilyflower. We are doing you a favor, so you can stop being a prude." I opened my mouth to speak up when James jumped in.

"She's not a prude." 

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Whatever." Sirius began to swing me, and I grabbed James' wrist, as his hands we still on mine. On the count of three, the boys threw me in, but I didn't release James, pulling him in with me.

"Hey!" He laughed as we emerged, soaked to the bone with a mouth full of seawater. I looked over at him smugly.

"Well, you shouldn't have thrown me in."

"I defended you." I nodded.

"You did, my chivalrous knight. I owe you one favor." James grinned at me. 

"Go out with me." I laughed, and waded towards him so I was right in his face.

"Nope. Any favor but that favor." He looked at me for a second, before deciding.

"Kiss me." I smiled coyly. 

"Okay." I moved even closer, and as he was leaning in I grabbed his head and turned it to the side, giving him a swift peck on the cheek. He scowled playfully at me.

"That wasn't part of the deal." 

"You didn't specify where to kiss you, you just said to kiss you. So I did." He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, before turning to face the rest of our splashing friends.

"Oi, Padfoot!" The black haired boy turned around to face his best friend.

"What?" He was, of course, whining and looking annoyed. When did a day go by without Sirius Black whining and looking annoyed? If it did, contact the Minister of Magic immediately. The world was coming to an end.

"Call Lily a name." Sirius and I both looked at James confusedly.

"Lily," Sirius stated nervously. He glanced at me questioningly, and I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't know what he was getting at, either. James rolled his eyes.

"A mean name, you idiot." I scowled at him, but Sirius brightened.

"Oh. Er... how about doofus? Yeah. Lily, you're a doofus." 

"She is not!" James called out over the oncoming waves of salt water. Oh. I knew where he was going with this now.

James turned from Sirius, who was looking very confused.

"You owe me another favor." I pretended to look thoughtful for a moment before I shook my head.

"No, you see, I don't think I do. I've done my good deed for the day." James growled at me playfully before lunging towards me. We tussled about for a few moments before we fell back into the starchy waters. When we came back up, I reached over and slapped James jokingly on the arm.

"That was completely uncalled for. Now I'm all wet." James rolled his eyes at me.

"Lily, you were already wet." I was flustered for a moment, trying to decide what to say.

"Oh." 'Way to go, Lily. Great response.' UUUGGGHHH. Even the Alice voice inside of my head was making fun of me. I heard James call after me as I trudged out of the water.

"Where are you going?" I turned around and looked at him.

"I fancy a walk."

"I'm coming with you." I sighed.

"Fine. I don't care." I stopped at the edge of the water as James made his way towards me, making the water churn beneath him as he walked. 

We walked for about 5 minutes before anyone spoke.

"Don't you think it's a bit much?" James looked at me strangely.

"What are you talking about?" I sighed, and kicked the sand.

"All this hiding. We're out here, on an island, with a Fidelius Charm around it, hiding from some madman, who's actually a genius." 

"Lily, do you not understand what he can do to people? They don't want any of us to get hurt. And neither to I." I knew there was a hidden meaning in that sentence, so I decided to change the subject.

"What do you reckon Voldemort was talking about when he was asking Abby for information?" James shrugged his shoulders and plopped down in the sand. I sat beside him.

"I don't know, but I figure it must have something to do with the Order of the Phoniex. My parents are in it, and I think Abby's were too. But I don't know why he was asking her, because I know my parents didn't tell me anything, and I'm pretty sure her's didn't either." I looked at him quizzically, and he sighed.

"You don't know what the Order of the Phoniex is, do you?" I shook my head, and he continued. "Well, I'm really not supposed to be telling you anything about this, considering I'm not supposed t know anything, but..." I couldn't help but smirk; I could get anything out of James Potter if I wanted it. But I remained silent and let him talk.

"It's a secret organization, and it's members are fighting Voldemort and his supporters. I'm not sure, but I think Dumbledore is in charge. He should be, at any rate." I nodded and remained silent. I could feel there was more he wanted to say. And I was right.

"I worry about my parents so much. I mean, they're already Aurors, and now they're in the Order. It's nerve racking. And yet, for some reason, I want to be a part of it. I want to be an Auror, and I want to be in the Order, and I want to do whatever I can to get rid of Voldemort. I hate him so much for everything he's done to you, and to Abby. It drives me crazy just sitting here and letting him do whatever he wants to." I shook my head.

"James, what could you do? You aren't even fully qualified yet, you should wait until you're out of school atleast." He nodded, but he didn't look convinced, so I continued. "And besides, you aren't just sitting here. You helped me get through this, and you helped Abby. I don't know what we would have done without you. Honestly." James looked over at me and I grinned cheekily.

"I think I want to get back in the water." I got up and ran full speed towards the waves. Reaching the water's edge I just stood there and looked out into the distance. It was so pretty, it was captivating. Until James, being his usual annoying self, ruined the moment.

"AAAGGHH!" That was me, of course, as he came up behind me and pushed me in the water. "James, what did you do that for?" He ignored me and dove into the water, even though we could both touch the bottom.

"Don't worry Lilykins, I'll save you!" He waded towards me and I decided to play along, thrashing about like I couldn't swim. 

"Help! Help!" I really was a good actress. James reached me just as our friends came around the turn on the beach, looking worried and soaked to the bone.

"Awww." James was whispering in my ear. "I wanted to give you mouth-to-mouth." I gave him a look that said clearly 'James Potter you might think you are funny but you bloody well are not.' He grinned at me.

"Lily Elizabeth Evans! We thought you were drowning!" Alice was, as usual, doing the scolding. Sirius, however, was laughing.

"You don't have to pretend to die for Prongs to give you mouth-to-mouth, Lilykins." Darn my pale complexion. I blushed, but decided I better defend myself.

"Actually, he pushed me in, and I really thought I was drowning. Now let's go get some lunch." I walked towards the house, fully aware I was leaving 4 very hysteric Marauders behind me.

Later

I was lying in bed after lunch, reading a Muggle romance novel, when I heard the door open and someone make their way through my room to my bed. I rolled over on my back and looked up at James.

"What do you want?" James grinned at me.

"You." 

"Sorry." 

"Come on Lilykins, go out with me?" I shook my head playfully at him.

"Nope," I replied in a very singsong voice. "Now get out of my room, Potter, before I hex you."

James frowned at me. "I'd like to see you try." And with that, he promptly lay down in my bed beside me. My body flushed were he touched me, and it was all I could do not to roll over and kiss him right then. But I needed to get to know him better; we needed to be friends first. 

So I hexed him. And when he saw his hair in my mirror, flashing all the colors of the rainbow and then some, he hexed me back.

It was three days before he took my beard off, and so I walked around for three days resembling a female Dumbledore without the glasses and the crooked nose.

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Hello everyone. You don't have to read this if you don't want to, but I just thought I would tell everyone that I'm going to write an Andromeda/Ted fanfic. too. 

Now, before anyone goes of in a huff, I'm not going to give up on C.K. It's not going to affect this story at all, as a matter of fact, because I've been writing it while I'm babysitting and it's not going to take any time away from this story. I love this story, probably because it's my first one , and I'm not ever going to put any other stories before it.

Well, I'm sorry this update took so very long. Thanx to all my reviewers, I'm about to hit my 50th review! Yayayayayayay! I give everyone who reviews their favorite kind of cyber cookie, so if you enjoy chocolate chip, oreo, molasses, white chocolate macadamia, or triple chocolate you are in luck. I ran out of sugar, I think I saved those all for myself.

I love you all!

Sunni Bunni!

P.S. 

There is little button at the bottom of this page that says

'Submit Review.' I suggest you take it's advice and do it, or you are going to have one crazy white girl on your hands. xoxo 


	11. Of Revelations and Destruction

Disclaimer: Yeah, I'm richer than the Queen. That's why it takes over 6 minutes for my freakin computer to boot up. OH, and I forgot to tell you, I moved to the U.S. Right. 

**Aloha!** I am so super sorry about this chapter, and I know it sucks, but bear with me all right? I'm having majorly severe writer's block right now AND school is about to start up. So I might only get to do one update a week, and I'm extremely sorry, but I start credits this year so I have to be in gear. Oh, yeah, and thanx to I LoVe FrEd WeAsLeY for being my 50th reviewer! YAYAYAYAYAY! You rock!

Okay, so most people liked my last light hearted chapter, but ya'll know me, I love to throw the action out there, so, yeah. This chapter is kind of going to be like the last one, but with a bit more drama. In this chapter you are going to experience girly shrieks, spiders, pda, and... well, I'm not going to tell you the rest, if I did you might as well not even read the story. Also, this chapter is quite a bit longer than the others, I hope you like.

Chapter 11: Of Revelations and Destruction.

JAMES P.O.V.

Lily was furious at me for hexing her like that (with the beard, you know) and she didn't talk to me for a couple of days, but she eventually got over it. Our next few weeks on the island were much like that first day, but each day was a little strange, thanks to Dumbledore. Like that Sunday he insisted we all dye our hair purple and listen to Muggle rock music.

The music was okay, but the purple hair was a little kooky. **Especially **on Dumbledore.

It was around six o'clock in the evening, about two weeks before we were due back at Hogwarts. Sirius, Remus, Peter and I were out fishing (on Dumbledore's orders; he wanted us to have a Muggle fish fry) when we noticed what looked like a whole flock of owls headed towards us. Of course, it wasn't a whole flock of owls, more like 10 of them. But that's still quite a few owls.

Giving up on our fishing, we headed back to the house where the girls were frying some of the fish we had caught the day before. They looked up as we entered, supeised we were back already, and fishless.

"What are you four doing? Where are all our fish?" I knew Lily was joking so I just plopped down at the kitchen table. She raised her eyebrows at me.

"We're tired, woman. We've decided from now on you girls are going to do all of everything, including cleaning, cooking, and fishing." The girls all laughed, and we had to fight to keep straight faces.

"James Michael Potter." That was all Abby said, but I could tell that she was scolding me through her laughter.

"Yes, Leelee?" Everyone except Sirius and Kelsey looked around to see who I was addressing. I'd forgotten no one else knew about my nickname for her, but Abby just took it in a stride.

"You need to stop with your silliness and tell us why you really came back to the house." I rolled my eyes at her but Remus decided it was best for him to step in. (And it probably was.)

"Our owls from Hogwarts should be here in about three seconds, we saw them from the beach." I saw Lily flash him a grateful smile as she went to open the window, and I felt jealousy boil over inside of me. I was, of course, telling myself that she didn't like him, and that even if she did, she wouldn't do that to Kelli. Everyone knew Kelli was head over heels for Remus and he was the same way with her.

Watching the owls soar in, something in my chest twinged. This was the last time I would be receiving a Hogwarts owl, and it was disconcerting. To think that I was going into my last year at Hogwarts was scary. Not that I would admit it.

I reached for an owl, only to discover it wasn't for me, but for Lily. I couldn't help but notice that her envelope was a bit heavy as I silently passed it to her. the whole kitchen was quiet, ready for news about what was going on at Hogwarts, which was a little odd considering we were living with the headmaster.

I let out a sigh of relief when I noticed my letter was normal. Looking around the room, I noticed Lily had a look of shock on her face.

"What's wrong, Lils?" Lily looked up at me and shook her head in a disbelieving manner.

"Please tell me one of you is Head Boy." I looked around at my fellow Marauders, and when they all shook their heads no, I turned back to Lily.

"No. Why?"

"Because if it's not you then I'm going to be stuck with that arrogant twit, who hits on me all the time, regardless of his girlfriend. Sirius and Remus both snorted, but I raised my eyebrows. Some guy was messing with Lily? It took me a while to realize Padfoot was speaking.

"Lily, aside from Remus, you just described the whole male population of Hogwarts." Lily's mouth formed an O, as in, 'Oh, I forgot I was so bloody gorgeous that every bloody guy inside that bloody castle wants to sleep with me.' okay, I doubt she was really thinking that, but I was.

"Um..." Lily's face was getting red. "I meant Jason Edwards. I'm pretty sure he's going to be Head Boy if it's not one of you four or Frank." I was once again feeling jealous. Some other guy was going to share a Common Room with Lily, and his room was going to be about 50 feet away from hers. I decided to act like I was happy, or someone would know something was up.

"Do you hate him even more than you hate me, Evans?" Lily looked up at me and nodded, but with no hint of a smile on her face.

"Yeah, Potter, hard to believe isn't it?" I was about to reply when Dumbledore walked into the room.

"Good evening, teens. I trust you have received your Hogwarts letters?" We all nodded and turned back to Lily, waiting for the outburst that was bound to happen. We didn't have to wait long, but it was politer than we anticipated.

"Professor, am I really going to have to work with that egotistical prat?" Dumbledore, his mouth twitching, looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

"If you are refering to Jason Edward, Ms. Evans, then I am afraid that the answer is yes." Once again, Dumbledore glance at me, as if he was trying to see how I was taking this. I just sucked in a very large amount of air very quickly, not trusting myself to speak, because I knew if I did, it would not turn out good.

Lily just shook her head before turning on her heel and walking out the kitchen door. Everyone glanced at me, and I glare at all of them. Why did they always lookto me to fix things with Lily? The girls were her best friends! I sighed as I walked out of the room and headed up the stairs.

Without knocking, I walked into the room and saw her lying face down on her bed, her back shaking slightly. Wondering why she was so upset, I made my way across the room, shutting the door behind me, and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Lily, it's not that big of a deal, is it?" She rolled over to face me, and I realized her pillow was soaked in tears. I hated it when Lily cried. It made me want to just hold her and protect her from the world.

Lily shook her head. "He scares me, James." I looked at her confusedly.

"Who? Dumbledore?"

"No. Edwards." She looked at the ceiling, purposefully avoiding my eyes.

"Why on Earth are you scared of Jason Edwards? He's just an arrogant little twit, Lils." She just sat there, not saying anything, and I realized something must have happened between the two of them.

"In 5th year, after the Halloween feast, he pulled me aside from the girls, telling me he had to talk to me about prefect duties. I just followed him, why should I have suspected anything? He led me into a deserted corridor, and he just jumped on me. Started kissing me really hard and everything, and I was just so scared, I couldn't even move. I just stood there, backed up against the wall, crying. If Remus hadn't come..." I realized I had such a tight grip on her headboard my knuckles were turning white. But I had to say something to her, I had to make her feel better.

"Lily, it's going to be okay. Just go to Dumbledore, and tell him about it, and he'll make someone else Head Boy." Lily, being stubborn, once again shook her head. I really wish she would stop doing that.

"I don't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he got to me. It'll just give him an ego boost." That settled it. She was definitely stark raving mad.

"Lily Elizabeth Evans, are you completely daft? Of course you got to you, he almost forced himself onto you. When I get hold of that little chicken, I'm going to-"

"You aren't going to do anything, James Potter, because I don't need you getting into trouble because of me. So you can just keep your hands and your wand to yourself." I sighed.

"Whatever you say, Lily." I got up to leave, but Lily pulled me back down.

"Don't. I don't want to go back down there, but I don't want to stay up here all by myself either. You, James Potter, are going to stay up here with me." I sighed, pretending I didn't want to.

"Fine, my Little Lilykins. But move over, this headboard is hurting my back."

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"Wake up, you two, Dumbledore's taking us to Diagon Alley!" I groaned, and, lifting Lily's head off my chest, looked at the clock on her wall.

"Padfoot, it's 9 o'clock at night. Why in Heaven's name is Dumbledore taking us to Diagon Alley tonight?" Sirius shrugged, looking down at the two of us, grinning.

"He says it's more fun at night. What about you two? What have you been doing up here?" I glared at him.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, you dirty dog, we were talking and we fell asleep. Shut up and don't you say anything to her about it." Sirius backed away, his hands up in surrender. When he left the room, I woke Lily and we made our way downstairs, still grumbling about being woken up.

As we walked towards the fireplace, where the rest of our friends were gathered, I heard Kelli yell "Diagon Alley," and we arrived just in time to watch her be whisked away into the flames. Lily volunteered to go next, and I followed her.

Pulling myself out of the grate, covered in ashes, I recognized the pub we were in to be the Leaky Cauldron. I sat down at a table to wait for the rest of our fellow Floo travelers.

After everyone arrived, we headed into the courtyard, and Lily tapped the bricks with her wand. We started towards Gringotts, but I remembered I had to talk to Remus about something, so I pulled him aside.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Remus looked at him, bewildered.

"What on earth are you talking about, James?"

"Oh, nothing, I was only wondering why you didn't tell me that that creep Edwards tried to RAPE LILY?" Remus shook his head.

"I didn't tell you because of three reasons. One, Lils didn't want me to tell anyone anything about it because for some reason she thought she shouldn't have followed him and that made it her fault. Two, because even if Lily hadn't made me promise not to tell anyone, I certainly wasn't going to tell you, considering the fact that you were her worst enemy at the time and she hated you. Three, I knew you would react like this and that you would go and try to murder Edwards, and I didn't want to get you into trouble." I just shook my head, in awe of the fact that Remus could predict my actions so easily.

"You know me too well, Moony." Remus just grinned and shook his head.

"Let's catch up with the others, shall we?" I laughed.

"By others, you do mean Kelli, right?" Remus turned pink, but he held his head high.

"What exactly did you and Lily do upstairs earlier, Prongs?" I growled and launched myself towards him, but he moved out of the way quickly and ran to catch up with the rest of the group. I picked myself up off the ground and proppeled myself forward after him.

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Hours later, I was still astonished that all the shops were still open at 11 o'clock at night. Mind you, some of them had closed, but Diagon Alley was still 'hopping.' Atleast that's what Lily said, I guess it's some crazy Muggle phrase, because Diagon Alley didn't look like it was going anywhere.

So anyways, we had all our school supplies, and we were just grabbing ice cream from Florean Fortescue's when we heard a distinct "Oho!" from behind us. We all groaned simultaneously.

We realized a second later that it was too late. The Velvet Slug had already spotted us.

"Oho, Lily, m'dear, is that you?" What a stupid question, Slughorn, is anyone else around Hogwarts that gorgeous? Lily put on a brave face as she turned to face the dreaded creature.

"Oh, hello Professor, we didn't see you." Sirius snickered and Lily gave him a warning look. But he was right. I mean, who could miss Horace Slughorn in a crowded shop?

It was a well known fact that Horace Slughorn wanted his hands on the Marauders. Maybe not Peter, but the rest of us. He had already caught Lily, Remus, and Abby in his web, but Sirius and I ditched all his parties, thanks to Quidditch practice. I don't know how Alice and Frank got away, but I knew they did. Peter and Kelli, or Phillip and Kamryn, as he called them, never merited an invitation to his 'get-togethers,' and I didn't think Kelsey had either, but I wasn't sure.

We were all chatting politely when all of a sudden Prof. Slughorn let out a shriek. Yes, a shriek. It wasn't a yell, or a holler, or ever a scream. It was an extremely high pitched, 13-year-old girl shriek.

He leaped onto a chair, which is quite a feat for him, I might add, and pointed at the ground. Sirius, Remus and I, finding it hard to control our laughter by now, followed his gaze, and his finger, to a spider that was no bigger than my pinky nail. Sirius, being the bold man that he is, (dun dun dunnnnnn) squashed the spider with his trainer, and somehow we managed to get away from the old crackpot by telling him we had to meet Dumbledore in the Leaky Cauldron. (Which we did, by the way.)

I don't know how we did it, but we managed to make it all the way into the pub before bursting into laughter. You don't get to see that every day. I didn't even know Slughorn could jump that high.

We made our way over to where Dumbledore was standing, conversing with someone we couldn't see around Dumbledore's tall frame. When we reached Dumbledore's side, however, Remus narrowed his eyes, Lily let out a whimper, and I had to restrain myself from punching the ugly git in the nose. Abby, however, didn't get it.

"Oh! Hey, Jason, how has your summer been so far?" Jason merely shrugged, looking Abby up and down like she was a piece of meat before moving on to Kelli, whom Remus put a protective arm around. Jason's face registered a look of shock.

"Are you two-" Kelli nodded.

"Yes, we are." I saw Lily's eyebrows raise up so far you almost couldn't see them anymore. Since when were Remus and Kelli together? And why didn't they tell any of us? Dumbledore decided to break the icy silence.

"Well, come along, we must be off. Goodnight, Mr. Edwards." Jason nodded and walked back out the door to the courtyard, probably wondering what we were doing with Dumbledore. Oh well. It wasn't any of his business anyways. Kelsey's voice brought me back to reality.

"Professor, how are we getting back to the house anyways?" Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling madly, pulled a quill out of his pocket.

"I trust you have all used a portkey?" We all nodded, relieved we weren't going to have to fly all the way across the world to get to our tiny island.

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"Shit." Sirius, who is not known to be great with words, summed up our situation very bluntly. I fought the urge to recoil as I looked up at the scull in the sky, green and vibrant against the dark night. The Dark Mark. The fire raging below it was massive, just as the house that had once stood there had been. I turned to Dumbledore.

"How- What's going on?" Dumbledore, instead of answering me, sighed.

"That house has been passed down in my family for 19 generations. Aberforth is not going to be happy with me." I turned instead to look at Remus, who was stunned into silence beside me. We all stood and watched as the flames devoured the house we had come to love, along with our belongings and everything else within a 20 foot radius. Suddenly Lily let out a cry.

"Morgana! Morgana!" We heard a tinkling sound behind us, and Lily whirled around to find her cat jogging (or whatever you want to call it, walking quickly?) towards us, a bell around her neck. Lily, scooping up her cat, snatched the green collar off of her neck and chucked it into the sand, scowling. We all gazed in wonder as it slowly turned into a piece of parchment, the green ink still sparkling as though it were wet.

Dumbledore, dispite the situation, began to chuckle, and we turned our gaze to him.

"All these years later, and Tom's still quite the Slytherin, eh?" We just stared at him, confusion alight on all of our faces.

"Who's Tom?" Kelsey asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Ah, but of course, you do not know. Voldemort is not actually a real name, more like an alias. His real name is the much more common, and likable, Tom. He was in Slytherin when he was in school, and I think he found he was rather taken with the colors. Now, let's see what this says." Watching Dumbledore bend over smartly to pick up the letter, I fought the urge to chuckle the same way he had earlier. Only Dumbledore would notice something about the colors of a letter in a grave time like this. Dumbledore cleared his throat and began to read.

"Dumbledore, do you really think you can keep your precious Gryffindors away from me? I will get them, don't worry your head about it. L.V." Dumbledore harrumphed. "It would be common curtesy to atleast sign his whole name." This time, I did burst into laughter. My professor was more worried about a mass murderer's manners than he was our safety, and I took that as a good sign that he was still Dumbledore. I now realized that if Dumbledore hadn't been with us, I would be scared. But he was with us, so I wasn't.

Kelli shot me a scandalized look, but I just ignored her. Rolling her eyes, she turned to Dumbledore.

"Where are we going to stay now, Professor?" Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a moment, but I had an idea.

"What about Hogwarts? There's no way he could get us there." Blue eyes twinkling, Dumbledore nodded fervently.

"Yes, yes, excellent idea, James." He paused for a moment before adding, "Why didn't I think of that?" Dumbledore surprised me with how much he could remind me of Sirius at times.

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After pocketing the letter and promising thoroughly that all our belongings would be replaced, Dumbledore somehow managed to turn Lily's bracelet into a portkey.

Settling into Hogwarts was not nearly as hard as it had been settling into the beach house, considering we had lived there the majority of the last 6 years, give or take a few months. Being there without the other students, and especially the Slytherins, was incredibly fun, so we were all disappointed when we realized we only had two weeks before the others arrived.

We developed a routine throughout the next two weeks. After dinner in the Great Hall (or in the kitchens: the girls were very taken with the house elves) we would return to Gryffindor tower and spread out in the common room. Remus and I would play Exploding Snap while Sirius murdered Peter in chess. Kelli would, of course, sit down on the armchair next to Remus and read magazines while Lily laughed gleefully at my singed off eyebrows. Kelsey and Abby would lay on the floor, talking quietly (they were quite close, even for sisters) while Alice wrote novels to Frank about how her day had been.

That was how Dumbledore found us on the eve before the rest of the school was to return.

We all glanced up as the potrait hole swung open, revealing Dumbledore in all his purple robed glory.

"Good evening, adolescents." We all murmured various greetings, each engrossed in his or her own task.

"Anywho, I think you should all ride the train tomorrow back to Hogwarts so not to arouse suspicoun with your class mates." This caught our attention, and we looked back up. "I will give you a portkey to London tonight. You are to stay at the Leaky Cauldron and Mrs. Potter will come by in the morning to take you to King's Cross." We all looked at each other, stunned. Kelsey, from her spot on the floor, cleared her throat.

"Um, Professor, what about Vol-Voldemort?" Professor Dumbledore smiled at her.

"I think Lord Voldemort has more to worry about tonight than my "precious Gryffindors" and their wheareabouts. Meet me in my office in 20 minutes, with all of your belongings." On that final mysterious note, Dumbledore turned and flounced out of the common room, where we heard him conversing light heartedly with the Fat Lady on the other side.

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Okay, so it was slightly longer than all of my other chapters, but I hope you liked it. I didn't, but I hope you did. Please review and tell me what you think. Oh yeah, and, I'd just like to thank you guys. You are so great. I haven't gotten any flames yet, thank goodness, I think I might cry if I did. Oh, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read Fall From Grace. I've only had 3 reviews, and I feel really let down. I know I'm only on my first chapter, but I guess it was because of all the reviews I get on this story. Anywhoo, my birthday is in 4 days! I expect a cyber present, and I want something creative! Mwarhahaha!

Sunni


	12. Author's Note

I know many of you are, in fact, wanting to murder me at the moment because this is only an author's note and you dragged your sorry mouse all the way over to to read an author's note, but here me out before pulling off any felonies.

I am in very, very, very deep writer's block at the moment, and I need some help. Or maybe some suggestions. I also have to ask your opinion about a few things.

First of all, would it take away from the story in I started to put other's people's point of views up other than Lily and James? I want to put up some chapters from Sirius's, or Remus's, or some of the other's point of views. Please tell me if you think that's a bad idea. I love hearing your opinions.

Second, would you all hate me horribly if I got rid of some characters? Like, killed them off or something? I don't know if I'm going to do that yet, but it crossed my mind the other day and the thought kind of scared me, kind of intrigued me, ya know?

Please, please review or pm me. I love my reviewers, ya'll are like my favorite cyber buddies. Cupcakes and cookies with sprinkles on top!

Sunni 


	13. Of Learning the Truth

Disclaimer: If J.K.Rowling was writing this story, do you really think that she would have screwed up so badly in her last chapter? Not very likely, I know. 

As you might notice in this chapter, I'm going to sort of tie my two stories together. Watch and see if you can catch it.

I am completely angry with myself about this chapter. My heart just wasn't in it, possibly because I'm sick. It's like, once a month I get horrible writers block and I can't do anything to remedy it.

You guys, I have to apologize. I totally messed up in my last chapter. When I had it written down, Kristen was there the whole time, but when I typed it up, I somehow overlooked her name. I'm super sorry, and I promise it won't happen again. She was supposed to be lying on the floor, talking to Abby and Kelsey. Oh, the shame!

The beginning of this chapter is kind of humorous, but it doesn't end that way, sorry. Not to ruin your fun or anything. I don't think it's going to be a cliff hanger, but please do not kill me if there is.

I'm drinking apple juice. Just so you know.

Okay, thanx to all my reviewers! Some of your suggestions really helped, and I'm kind of going to tie them all in together in this chapter.

**Chapter 13: Of Learning the Truth**

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I stared at James and Sirius as we sat at the bar in the Leaky Cauldron.

"You want to go into Muggle London?" To my suprise, both boys nodded their heads, looking quite serious. No pun intended.

"Are you serious?" I looked over my shoulder to see who had asked the dreaded question, turning my back on Sirius's newly found grin. I looked at Abby with a ready made scowl on my face. She gave me a questioning look, but before she could say anything Sirius started in.

"Of course I'm Sirius, Ab. Who else could be as seriously Sirius as me?" James and I groaned simultaneously.

"Why, Abby? Why?" Abby shrugged her shoulders at James, a mischevious glint in her eye.

"I couldn't resist." My eyes widened slightly.

"Okay. That settles it. You have been spending WAY too much time with Sirius. He's turning you into a... A Marauder!" The boys laughed and Abby's face broke into a grin just as Remus walked in with the rest of the crew in tow, a feined hurt expression on his face.

"What's wrong with being a Marauder, Lily? I thought we were friends!" I tried to force myself not to giggle, but it didn't work. Remus smirked. "What's this, Lily Evans giggling? When did that happen? I think YOU"VE been spending way too much time around James, Lily bean." My face flushed as red as my auburn hair, but James's grin widened. Remus ignored us.

"So, are we going to Muggle London or not?" Everyone, except Kristen and I, nodded their heads, but we had seen Muggle London enough to not be excited. We tagged along, getting our jackets and hats half-heartedly, but by the time we walked out the door, the Marauders' excessive energy had worn of on us, and we were as rowdy as the rest of them.

I fell into step in between James and Sirius, as usual. Sometimes I think they did that on purpose. If there was anywhere we went together, whether it was just the three of us, or everyone else too, they always sandwiched me in between them. Not that I'm complaining or anything, I'm just curious.

I looked up to voice my question at James as we were walking past the park, when my eyes landed on a boy with blonde hair, wrapped so tightly around a busty brunette you could hardly tell who's hands where who's. I gasped in shock before turning to James.

"Turn around! Get them to turn around now! Don't let Kristen see them!" He looked at me confusedly, but it was too late. I heard a shriek from behind me and I whirled around to see Kristen, her eyes wide and her hand over her heart, and looking like she was about to faint. I tried to calm her down, but before I knew it, she was wrenching Johnathon off the girl by his hair. I watched as they stared at each other for a few moments. Johnathon's face was shocked, to say the least, as was the girl standing behind him. Kristen was in hysterics.

"How could you, John? Why?" John looked guilty, but it didn't look like he was very sorry for what he'd done. He sighed.

"Listen, Krissy, I'm sorry. But I haven't seen you all summer. I couldn't deal with this long-distance thing anymore. I thought we were going to spend time together this summer. What happened?" Kristen's eyes narrowed and she began to wrestle her engagement ring off of her finger. She threw it at his face.

"You want to know what happened, John? I had to go into hiding because there is some loony murderer who tried to kill me and my friends. He killed Lily's parents, he killed Abby's parents, and he's tried more than once to kill me! Are you happy now?" She turned to look at the brunette, but instead of anger, I saw sorrow in her face. "I feel sorry for you. You've just landed yourself a cheater. You can have that ring if you like. Hell, you can even marry him the same day I was going to. I don't give a damn anymore." She turned on her heel and marched off in the opposite direction, Abby, Remus, Kelli and Kelsey on her heels. I stood there with James, Sirius, Peter and Alice for a moment and watched John mutter under his breath for a moment.

"She was probably cheating on me with one of those guys anyways. She always was looking at other guys." I felt James move towards Johnathon, but I grabbed his arm and gave him and Sirius warning looks.

"Come on, guys. He's not worth your time or your effort." Really, I would have enjoyed seeing James pummel Johnathon to a pulp, but there was a Muggle police officer standing over towards the corner, eyeing us suspicously, and I didn't think that they wanted to spend the night in jail.

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We finished our tour of Muggle London in high spirits despite our tragic start. I think that, regardless of her initial anger, Kristen felt this break-up as somewhat of a release, and she cheered everyone else up, even though it should have been vice-versa. By the time we had arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron we were all weighed down by Muggle records, clothes, and trinkets.

Everyone, on the way back, began to speculate about the fact that James and I weren't dating yet. This made me uncomfortable, but all I did was grimace, blush, and walk ahead of the rest of them, James in tow.

We reached the Leaky Cauldron at a quarter 'till ten, and we all made a beeline for the booth in the corner, which we had taken up residence in when we first arrived. Spreading our merchandise out to where we could all fit, we squeezed in. Tom, the bartender, headed over to get our orders.

James looked up at him. "I think I want one of those steaks I had earlier, Tom." I just stared at him. "What?" I shook my head.

"We just ate, James. Not 10 minutes ago." He just grinned at me and looked back at Tom, who nodded. One by one, the boys all ordered something to eat, making us roll our eyes in exasperation, but they didn't notice. Finally it was our turn.

"I want a small gillywater." Tom grinned toothlessly at Kristen before turning to me.

"I just want a butterbeer." I turned to look at the others. "What about you guys?" Alice, Kelsey, and Abby all ordered butterbeers at well, but Kelli wanted a gillywater.

While we waited for our orders, my friends chatted about pointless things while I sat back and listened to them chatter.

"No way is Puddlemere United going to lose to the Tornados. Puddlemere United is the absolute best." I turned away from James, Sirius, and Peter, not wanting to listen to their Quidditch talk, but soon finding I probably didn't want to listen to Kelli and Remus either, as they were talking about this being our last year at Hogwarts. I was trying my hardest not to think about that. I turned instead to Abby, Kristen, Alice and Kelsey, who were talking about robes. Sighing, I leaned back into my seat, willing my butterbeer to come and save me from the madness. Instead, an arm belonging to one James Potter found it's way around my shoulders. Without realizing it, I leaned into him, and when I looked up, his face had the word worry written all over it.

"What's wrong with you?" I gave him a tired smile.

"Nothing. I just don't feel like talking about robes, Quiddich, or leaving Hogwarts." He grinned at me, making his hazel eyes twinkle.

"Then what do you want to talk about?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know. You pick a topic." Remembering who I was talking to, I immediately regretted my decision. "Never mind. That's not a good idea. How about we talk about... Pink hair!" James laughed, making everyone turn to look at us, but he waved them off. As they returned to their conversations, James leaned in closer to me.

"Sirius's favorite cousin, Andromeda, had a baby when we were fourteen, and she's a metamorphagus. Her favorite color for her hair is bubble gum pink." I laughed at first, before I realized something.

"I thought Sirius didn't talk to his family anymore." James grinned, and I looked at him questioningly.

"Well, Andromeda and Sirius are kind of like the white sheep of the Black family. No pun intended. Andromenda ran off after her sixth year to Tonk's house and he's a Muggleborn. And then, if that wasn't enough, her and Ted went and got married after their seventh year." His revelation sparked something in my memory.

"Ted? Ted Tonks?" James nodded, and I had to refrain from laughing. "I grew up down the street from Ted. I think I met Andromeda one time. I always thought Ted was a little odd, but I never knew he was a wizard." James laughed.

"And he probably doesn't know you're a witch. Sirius and I were going to go visit them on Christmas this year. You should come." I knew it wasn't so much James wanting Ted and I to catch up as it was him wanting me at his house for Christmas, but I didn't care.

"I might do that. But you better write Andromeda and tell her you're bringing an extra person."

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"Wow." I looked over a Kristen with a questioning glance and saw the tears in her eyes as she stared up at the train. "I can't believe this is the last time we're going to ride this old thing to Hogwarts. Our last September 1st." I sighed. I hated to talk about the unknown, and with all the twists and turns this summer, NO ONE could tell me what was going to happen this year. It was frightening. I climbed onto the train, with Kristen trailing behind me and my Head Girl badge gleaming on my chest.

We had been the last of our little "group" to come through the barrier, so everyone else was already on the train. We trudged down the corridor, looking for the compartment holding our friends. When we finally reached it, James and Sirius came out to haul our trunks in and I headed towards the prefects compartment to give directions.

Walking into the compartment, I came face to face with Jason Edwards, who smirked at me. I raised my eyebrows at him even though I was scared to death. I couldn't let him see that.

"Where's your posse, Evans?" At my questioning glance, he laughed. "You know, the Marauders, or whatever they call themselves. Weren't they with you all summer? Or now that they've all had their way with you, are they moving on to some one else?" Despite how untrue the statement was, it made my cheeks flush and I turned to look at him, anger evident in my face. I drew back my hand to slap him, but a firm grip grabbed my arm and I turned to look at Remus, who was a prefect. He shook his head.

"Lily," he was whispering to me, where Edwards couldn't hear. "Let James take care of him." I started to shake my head, to tell him that I didn't want James in trouble, when Edwards's face flashed before me, laughing yet cold, while he pressed me against the stone wall of the castle. I nodded and went to take my seat on the other side of the compartment, and with Remus following and sitting beside me, and the promise of seeing James in only about an hour, I felt a sense of security wash over me.

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"He said that to you!" I nodded a bit tentatively, looking into James's furious hazel eyes. He positively roared. "I'm going to kill that little bastard." He stormed out of the compartment, Sirius and Peter on his heels, but Remus lingered for a moment.

"And you, young lady, are going to write to Dumbledore, and tell him all about what happened in 5th year, and tell him that you don't feel comfortable around Edwards, and that unless he appoints a new Head Boy, you are going to resign your position as Head Girl." Once again, I nodded, slightly afraid of what lengths the Marauders would reach to protect us, but all at the same time glad that I had them on my side. They were my protectors.

As Remus left the compartment to trail after the others, I looked around at my friends, who were all staring at me, their mouths wide open. As usual, Kelli was the first to regain speech.

"What on earth was he talking about? And why did James react like that?" She stared at me, her stormy blue eyes prompting me to answer, and quickly. I sighed, looking down at my feet, and began to recount the whole encounter.

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"And so, the only people who knew were Remus and James, because Remus had saved me and James sort of prodded it out of me." I had once again rendered my friends speechless, which only happened on rare occasions, and had the circumstances been different, I would have felt very proud of myself.

Alice blinked a few times before shaking her head.

"I thought Edwards was an okay guy. I mean, Frank is always hanging out with those Ravenclaw blokes, and they talked quite a bit. It's scary, thinking of all those times I was around him." She swallowed, and I put my arm around her shoulder, but she shook me off. "I'm the one who should be doing the comforting right now, not the one being comforted." The next thing I knew, I was being smothered in an Alice hug. I tried to shrug her off as well.

"Alice, I'm fine. Really, I am. It was two years ago, and I'm almost completely over it. And I definitely want to see the state Edwards is in when the Marauders finish with him."

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As it turns out, we never got to get a look at Edwards, but James and Sirius had quite a time reliving the experience of beating the creep to a pulp. By the time we reached Hogsmeade Station we had all heard quite enough from the boys and were ready for them to shut up. Laughing, and chattering, and, as usual, arguing, we made our way towards the carriages which, at that moment, looked horseless.

I felt a hand on my arm just as I approached the carriages, and I whirled around to find myself staring into the cool blue eyes of Dumbledore.

"Good evening, Ms. Evans. I trust it has been an interesting one?" I almost laughed, he looked so innocent.

"Yes, Proffesor, very interesting. Did you get my letter?" Dumbledore nodded, his mood apparently no longer jovial.

"Yes, indeed I did, Miss Evans. I would like to tell you that there was actually no need for it, though I am glad you chose to confide in me. As soon as Mr. Edwards got a glimpse of me earlier on the train, he resigned. I think the "Marauders," I believe they are called, scared him just a tiny bit. Especially the one with the glasses."

"So who's the mysterious new Head Boy?" Dumbledore chuckled.

"Ahh, yes, but if I told you, it wouldn't be a mystery anymore now would it?" His eyes twinkling again, he patted me on the arm. "I shall anounce it at the Welcoming Feast, and trust me, it's going to be as much of a shock to you as it is to him."

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Okay dokey, so that was chapter 12. Hope you liked it. I didn't, but I never really like any of my chapters do I? lol... Well, review.

loves you always and always,  
with lollipops and ice-cream,

Sunni


	14. Of Discovering Ourselves

Disclaimer: I'm really getting sick of these. After 14 chapters of typos, and missing people, do you really think I'm J.K Rowling? If you do, I pity you, and you need to be sent to St. Mungo's. 

I'm so sorry this took so long. Please don't throw rotten food at me. Please, please don't. I just took a shower. Life has been throwing so many curves at me, it's almost unreal. I have to read 25 books in a month, I had a standardized test to take last week, an algebra test, a Civics test, and a science test. And you can also blame Cody, my best friend, for telling me I could not waste my life away in front of the computer and dragging me to see the Grudge 2. Which sucked. That's what I get for being best friends with a guy. Them and there stupid, stupid movies.

I just read the book Mrs. Mike. Has anyone else read it? I can't find a single person who has, and it's a great book. If you haven't read it, you should! If you have read it, please tell me! I need someone to talk to about it. Also, if anyone has seen the last 5 or 6 episodes of Degrassi could you tell me what's been happening? My satellite got blown over in a storm and they're taking forever to fix it.

This is a kind of goofy, strange chapter, but I just wanted to show everyone what all the characters are like to me.

Thanx for all my reviews, guys. Writer's block sucks and it really helps when you show me why I'm still trying to battle it. Ha. I'm so sappy, even over stupid stuff like this.

Warning: Chapter contains Slytherin sleuths, telling secrets, coffee highs, mysterious (and intelligent) beds, and slow moving clocks... Don't say I didn't warn you.

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Chapter 14: Of Discovering Ourselves (part one)

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that." -- Dumbledore

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"Many of you may find what I am about to declare very hard to believe." Dumbledore swept his gaze around the Great Hall, lingering here and there for a moment before coming to rest at the Gryffindor table, where we sat, of course, anxiously awaiting the announcement of Head Boy. We were all extremely worried about Lily, seeing as her last prospect for a partner didn't turn out that well. I could only hope it was Remus, and not Snivellus. Oh, the horror!

Okay, so I'm being slightly melodramatic. Greasy git that he was, I honestly didn't think Snape would do anything to Lily. Not that I wanted him to be Head Boy, of course. As a matter of fact, I almost wished I had behaved myself properly these last 6 years, so I could have the job. Almost.

My thoughts were interrupted once more by Dumbledore's mystical voice, which seemed to come from no where to pick up his speech.

"Jason Edwards, my first candidate for the position of Head boy, has found himself ill-disposed to do the job, due to a certain, er... Injury he aquired earlier on the train." You could never be positive with Dumbledore, but I was almost sure I heard a hint of humor in his voice. I grinned.

"Although it has never happened before in the History of Hogwarts, the young man I am about to allow to lead you is not a prefect, but a young man who many of you look up to. He is a good student, an excellent flyer, and a very, very loyal friend. James Potter, would you come here please?"

I flet the grin slide off my face like Stinksap. It was not the first time my name had been called during a feast. But never, ever had anyone heard my name called out for some sort of praise, except for in Transfiguration, and certainly not for a leadership position. But that was exactly what Dumbledore was doing.

I was about to slump lower in my seat when I felt a hand on my arm, and I turned to look into Lily's happy, shining green eyes. I realized that if I couldn't do this for myself, then I could do it for her. I could do anything for her.

And so, slowly but surely, I, James Potter, the illegal Animagus, the prankster extrodinaire, and, above all, the Marauder, made my way to the staff table. Taking the badge from Dumbledore, I felt this was a turning point in my life.

But I was still going to prank the Slytherins. Nothing could stand between a Marauder and mischief making, not even the love of there life (even though sometimes I think Lily was amused by our antics).

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To most people, Lily Evans is very un-perfect in a number of ways.

For one, she has a temper. A temper which, when provoked, could face down Armagedon without a shiver of fear.

She is also very, very studious. She thinks constantly about her grades, which has annoyed more than a few people, and it is often discussed among certain students that Lily Evans should be transferred to Ravenclaw.

Lily Evans hardly ever worries about her appearence. It is not uncommon to see her bent over her plate at breakfast, her hair in a ponytail, her robes more than slightly askew, and with a complete absence of make-up. And Lily Evans also has very bad posture, even though slumping does not agree with such a short girl.

Yes, by normal standards Lily Evans was very un-perfect. But I, James Potter, happened to love the un-perfect perfection of Lily Elizabeth Evans... Isn't that what love is about, anyways? Finding perfection in an un-perfect person?

"Oi!" I looked up, two weeks later, from the Potions essay I was trying to write for the Velvet Slug to see the gray eyes of Sirius Black smiling at me. Yes, I understand that most eyes don't smile.

But when you're Sirius Black, anything is possible. Like only raising one eyebrow at a time. How does he _do_ that? But anyways, back to the present.

"I think Jamesie-poo was thinking about a giiiiiirrllll." I glared at him.

"Shut your mouth, Orion." Sirius narrowed his eyes, and I winced, realizing what a low blow that must have been. If he hated his first name, he loathed his middle name with a passion.

"Alright, Bambi. You asked for it." Stealthily, he stood and leaped onto the table. He opened his mouth, and I knew what was coming, but for some reason, I wasn't prepared. "Jaaaaamess Miiiichaeeel Pooooootteeerrr luuuuurves Lily Elizaaabeth Evaaaaaans!" Yes. Alert the Prophet, the Quibbler, and Witch Weekly, and report it to the WWN.

Sirius Orion Black, the rebel, the bad boy, the Hogwarts heart throb, is singing. And it sounds like nails on a chalk board.

"Sirius, stop. Now. Before you hurt yourself or someone else." I turned to see Abby, a book in her hand, grinning up at Sirius. And I couldn't help but wonder about the sense of humor Fate had, throwing Abby, the quiet bookworm, together with Sirius, the loud, attention seeking Marauder. But I could tell that Sirius had fallen hard for Abigail Marie, and that Hogwarts would soon have to find a new player, because this one was soon to be taken.

In the midst of Sirius's singing, Abby's reproachful grinning, and my wondering, I had failed to see or hear Remus come through the portrait hole. But out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a figure heading up towards our dormitory, and from the silhoutte, it couldn't be Peter. I turned back to Sirius and Abby, who were still looking at each other shyly.

"Sorry to break up this little staring contest, but Sirius and I have work to do." Abby rolled her eyes at me.

"Puhleaze, James. You have never done an honest days work in your spoiled, sheltered life." I scowled at her, but she continued. "Go ahead, plan your next full moon adventure. I don't care." Sirius and I turned to look at each other, gaping like fish. Abby looked over her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Jamesie-poo. Your secret is safe with me."

"How did you know?" Sirius was still staring at her, his mouth open. She winked.

"I have my sources."

I watched after her, my mind still buzzing with her sudden declaration. How did Abby, the quiet one, the bookwarm, the one who was modest and hated attention, find out our secret? But I didn't have time to dwell on that, so I turned back to Sirius.

"Come on, Padfoot. Remus is up in our room, sulking about something, and we, the cheer-er-uppers, must go cheer him up, before he pulls us all into his strange portal of self-misery."

Sirius looked at me, raising an eyebrow. (How does he do that? Grrr.)

"How many cups of coffee have you had today, Prongs?" I looked down at my hands, trying to remember, and began counting on my fingers.

"Errr. About seven, I think. And it was more like a little bit of coffee with some sugar." I watched as Sirius shook his head, obviously amused.

"Merlin, James. Lily warned us not to let you have coffee." I just grinned cheerfully at him, glad they didn't listen to Lily. Much as I love the girl, she looks out for me a little too much.

"Yes. Well. Back to the mission. We have to go find Remus and figure out what his problem is, Sirius. Seriously." And so we began trooping up the stairs, keeping an eye out for a certain rat named Peter, because when something puts a Marauder down, it usually takes all of us to cheer said Marauder up.

But as we entered the dormitory, which was already covered in old socks, smelly shirts, and Drooble's wrappers, all of my own cheerfullness vanished at the sight of Remus. I had never seen a person look so sad without crying. He sat up against his headboard, his knees pulled up to his chest, his elbows propped up on his knees. He looked worse than he did around full-moon time, and that was saying something.

Sirius and I both sat ourselves down on either side of the morose-looking Marauder and pulled ourselves into the same positions, waiting for him to say something. It was an unspoken rule that we never asked questions; if he wanted to tell us, he would tell us. If he didn't, than he didn't have to. But we were always there, letting him know without words that he could tell us everything and we wouldn't ever leave him.

But we hadn't sat in that position since 2nd year, when he had come clean and told us about his furry little problem. Of course, we already knew. We just couldn't figure out how to get about asking him. So we waited, knowing Remus to be an honest person, and sure enough, the three of us, plus Peter, had sat on this very bed and swapped our biggest secrets. But more on that later.

Finally, Remus decided to talk. His voice was cracking from unshed tears, and his face turned paler with every word he spoke.

"I have to tell Kelli. She deserves to know." I didn't know what to say, and apparently neither did Padfoot. I would have loved to say, 'Go ahead, Remus. She'll accept you any way that you are." But I didn't know Kelli enough to determine her reaction, and Sirius didn't, either, so all we managed to say between the two of us was:

"Oh. Okay." Remus sighed and leaned his head back against the headboard.

"I'm not good enough for her. I mean, what if I hurt her?" He shook his head as if to clear it out, and crawled from the four-poster to take up pacing the floor. "Or what if she had some deathly fear of werewolves that I don't know about? Or-"

"Moony, mate, you really need to stop or you're going to give yourself a mental breakdown." Sirius looked at him sternly, and I fought the urge to laugh at this bizare scene in front of me. Usually Remus is the one looking at Sirius sternly, not the other way around. Suddenly I had a brain wave, which happens quite a bit when I'm sitting in Moony's bed. Maybe that's why he's smart, because he got the smart bed. Oh well. We'll never solve that mystery.

"I have a brilliant idea. We haven't pulled a prank in two weeks, right? And people are on the edge, waiting for it, because of course they're expecting it. So instead of our annual Prank the First Years gig let's get the Slytherins, and get them bad. Because this is our last year, and we have to go out with a bang." Remus raised his eyebrows at me.

"James, we still have 9 months before we go anywhere. So don't worry about going out with a bang, alright. We have time." I pouted at him.

"Come ooon, Moony. This will take your mind off Kelli, and it will relax us a little bit. No one has really said anything, but the whole school's gotten jumpy over all this Voldemort business. We need this." Remus sighed again, and this time it was a submissive one.

"Alright. Let's get down to business."

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"Spill." I hadn't spoken a word since I had sat down next to Lily at the breakfast table, due to the fact that I was shoveling food into my mouth, but she still knew. How can she read me so easily?

"I don't know what you mean, Lilykins. Could you pass the syrup? And your hair is falling down." She pushed the offending hair behind an ear and passed me the gleaming bronze liquid, but I could tell she knew something was up. And it wasn't long before she voiced her suspicions again.

"What are you and the Marauders planning, James?" I had the sudden urge to tell her that we weren't planning anymore, that we had already planned and set said plan into action, but decided against it, knowing that the spectacle to take place at dinner wouldn't be nearly as funny if she already knew what was going to happen. I just shook my head, and, glancing at my watch, grabbed her arm.

"Come on, Lils. Let's go or you'll be late to your favorite class."

The rest of the day seemed to drag on forever, as if the teachers had bewitched the clocks to take as long as they needed. Sirius, Remus, Peter and I were restless the whole time, fidgeting, playing Exploding Snap in the back of the room, experimenting with the Marauder's map during Transfiguration. Potions, the last class of the day, seemed to be the worst, as we not only had to deal with the extra-slow moving clocks, but the Slytherins and the Velvet Slug as well. Sirius and I, however, had to refrain from going into hysterical bouts of laughter everytime Snape, Rookwood, or Avery went by, seeing as they all had something coming, as did Rosier, my little brother Regulus, and the rest of their worthless House.

When dinner finally arrived, the Marauders and I made sure to get seats facing towards the Slytherin table and ate as fast as we could, willing the others (others meaning Lily, Alice, Frank, Kelli, and Abby, seeing as Kelsey was sitting with her friends in her year) to do the same, because as soon as dessert time rolled around, they wouldn't be able to breath from laughing.

And indeed, when the first wafts of treacle tart made their way to our nostrils, you could hear benches scraping as the whole Slytherin House got to its feet, and a select few, including the afore-mentioned, climbed to the top of the table and paired off, preparing to dance.

I cued to Frank, who was our accomplice, and he let the needle drop on the record player that we had borrowed from the Velvet Slug. As the waltz made it's way throughout the room, laughter could be heard mingled with it, as the whole Great Hall, including the teachers, watched Slytherin sing lyrics such as:

"We wish, oh we wiiiish we were Gryffindooooors, Where the great, and miiiighty roooooammm."

Composed by the wonderful yours truly, there were a whole six verses and a chorus, so, as you can tell, it would take much too long to put it all here.

As the song drew to a close and the Slytherins took a bow and sat down, never to remember a thing about tonight's dinner, I saw Remus pulling Kelli, who was still wiping tears of mirth off her face, out of the Great Hall and toward Gryffindor Tower. He glanced back, and I sent him the thumbs up sign, but I couldn't help feel my stomach sink a small bit.

I kept my friends at the table as long as I could, trying to delay getting to the common room so I could be positive Remus and Kelli had enough time to talk, but soon the Hall was emptying and we had to leave as well.

I was afraid, upon entering the common room, that we would be walking in onto something extremely private, and indeed we were, but it was not at all what I had expected. You see, when the Fat Lady's portrait swung open, Abby and I looked at each other, for we both heard a familiar female voice screaming at the top of her lungs.

"You are so cold hearted! How could you do this to him?"

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Mwarharharharharharharharhar. I'm so bloody evil... Sorry. But I promise I already have half of the next chapter written so it should be up on Friday at the latest.

Once again, I apologize for such a delay. And once again, you can blame half of it on Cody!

Sunni


	15. Scream Your Heart Out

Disclaimer: Yada yada, bull crap. It ain't mine, as we know.

Thank you to: Godlilocks31980, ShakeIt-Don'tBreakIt, meganidge, Ilovefredweasley, and serene nightmare. And special thanks to E Patronum for the longest review I have ever gotten, and for letting me poor out all my troubles on her, even though we've never met.

Just to warn you, there's major fluff at one point in this story.

And to IloveFredWeasley: The part with Kristin missing was actually in the plot this time. I didn't forget her, or accidentally leave her out. You'll see later. James is just completely unobservant, and it comes into play majorly in later chapters.

Also: I stole a line in here from one of the Weasley twins in the Goblet of Fire (the movie).

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Recap of last chapter's events:

I was afraid, upon entering the common room, that we would be walking in onto something extremely private, and indeed we were, but it was not at all what I had expected. You see, when the Fat Lady's portrait swung open, Abby and I looked at each other, for we both heard a familiar female voice screaming at the top of her lungs.

"You are so cold hearted! How could you do this to him?"

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It took me a moment to zero in on the scene unfolding in front of me. The common room was packed full of a variety of people, but two girls, both with red faces, stood out the most.

"What do you mean? How could I do this to him? How could he do this to me? How could he keep a secret like this from me, and then expect me to accept it? Tell me that, Kristen!" Kelli was in hysterics. I knew I should move, that I should get in there and stop that before something drastic happened, but my feet were glued to the floor. I wanted to understand what was happening.

"You just don't get it, do you, Kelli? That guy up there, sitting in his room all alone right now, loves you. He loves you with all his heart. Do you know how much I would give to have someone love me like that?" Kristen shook her head, shakily wiping the tears from her eyes. "Do you think that I wanted Jonathan to leave me? Wanted him to forget all about me while I was gone?" Kelli sat down on the edge of the sofa, taking her head into her hands.

"I'm sorry, Kristen. But this has nothing to do with you, or with Jon. I don't understand why you're even bringing it up." Kristen raised herself up to her full height.

"You want to know why I'm bringing it up? Because after I found out about Jon, I was hurting so bad, I thought I was going to die. I felt as if my heart had been ripped out, thrown on the ground, and stomped on. I'm bringing it up because I can tell you that I know exactly how Remus feels right now. And he is the last person that needs to fell that way." Kelli opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again.

"Kris... I just... I can't deal with this right now." She turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Kristen and their crowd of spectators behind. Immediately, Sirius moved in.

"Okay, you nosey suds, back to your knitting. Come along, now, mind your own business." As Gryffindors around us slowly went back to conversation, Kristen stormed out the door. Alice led us over to a slightly secluded corner were we could talk without interruptions. And of course, she was the first to open her mouth.

"What was that all about? What's going on between Kelli and Remus? I thought they were happy." James shook his head, looking appalled.

"If Remus wants you to know, he's going to have to tell you himself. What I would like to know at the moment is how Kristen got here so fast. She ate dinner with us, didn't she?" I felt frustration boil up inside of me as Abby sent James a disgusted look from the armchair she and Sirius were snuggled into. "No, you idiot. I swear, James, you notice nothing." She shook her head. "I thought she was in the library. She had said something about needing a Potions book." Sirius looked up, as if an idea had suddenly hit him. 

"I think she was there. That's probably where Moony took Kelli to tell her about-" Sirius and James exchanged a glance that only a few of us understood. "That probably where he took her to tell her about his furry little problem." Kelsey scowled.

"You four and all your funky code names. I mean, obviously Remus's is... well, yeah. But no one knows about the rest of you." James grinned.

"I know about the rest of us." Everyone laughed, but I wasn't in the mood for games. Picking up a throw pillow from the sofa next to me, I hugged it tight to my chest.

"Shouldn't someone go check on Remus? I mean, to make sure he's okay and everything?" Peter shook his head.

"No. Trust me. He wants to be alone right now, but when he's ready, he'll tell us everything. We all know everything about each other." Hmmm... And who says the way to man's heart is food? With a Marauder, if his friends liked you, you were as good as in. And then you can bug his friends to tell you all kinds of embaressing stories about him.

Oh, James would regret ever giving me a beard.

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We didn't see Kelli at all for days. I was worried. We slept in the same room; how could I not see her? But I always fall asleep before she comes in at night, and when I wake up in the morning, she's gone. The only reason we know that she's sleeping there at all is because her bed is always unmade in the mornings. I didn't have a clue where she went during the day; she wasn't attending her lessons.

On the other hand, we saw plenty of Remus and Kristen, who were becoming friends very quickly. You hardly saw one without the other, but I don't think it's a... relationship, relationship. I hope you understand my meaning. They just understood each other, I think.

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"Lily!" A book banged onto the table where I was studying, and James slid himself into the stiff backed library chair beside me. I glanced up once, then returned to my book, but James kept on rambling.

"Halloween's in about three weeks, right?" I nodded slowly, never taking my eyes from the text.

"Yes. Why?" He grinned like a cat, and I knew he had some strange, disastrous plan.

"Well. I was thinking-"

"Oh, James, you haven't been doing that again, have you? You know how dangerous things get when you think." He glared at me, but only half-heartedly.

"Ha ha, Lils, very witty. Now can I finish what I was saying?" I nodded for him to continue. "Well, I was thinking that instead of going to the Halloween feast-"

"No, Potter, I will not snog you in the broom closet." He looked up at me, and I couldn't read his look. "I was joking, James. Finish was you were saying." He nodded.

"I think that you, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Abby, Kelsey, Alice, Frank-" 

"Okay. I got it James. No need to name off the entire group of seventh years. What are we going to do instead of the Halloween feast?" (A/N: Kelsey is only a 6th year, but she's Abby's little sister, so obviously she gets in with whatever they do.)

"Go to Hogmeade, and from there maybe somewhere else." I looked up in alarm. He had to be joking.

"Don't be silly, James. That's not even a Hogsmeade weekend." James shook his head slowly, as if he was disappointed.

"Aw, now, Lils. Haven't you been around the Marauders long enough to know we can do anything we set our minds to?" I drew in a deep breath.

"James, I don't break the rules. I don't get detentions, I don't lose House points, I don't-" He cut me off this time.

"Listen, Lily-flower. You don't need to worry about that. We won't get caught. The guys and I sneak around all the time-" He avoided the stern gaze I laid on him. "-and we never get caught. Trust me. We have our ways."

"Okay, James. But if we get caught, I'm telling McGonagall or whoever catched us that it was all your fault and I went against my will." He grinned again. 

"Well, I'll just go tell the others you agreed, then." And off he went, a slight bounce to his step. 

The little tosser.

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"I can not believe I agreed to this." The Marauders and Frank were at the front of our little entourage, paying more attention to a piece of parchment than they were to us. We were trailing along behind them, being led through several secret passages that we had never even known about.

Kelli wasn't with us, due to the fact that it would make both Kristin and Remus very uncomfortable. She had returned to her lessons, though, and if neither Remus or Kristin were with us she would come up and speak with us. Otherwise she could be seen with Eddie Bones and his crew, or with some of the sixth year Gryffindor girls.

"We're here." We had stopped in front of an old mirror, dusty and dirty. I looked back at Sirius.

"How exactly can we be 'here?' It's a disgusting old mirror." He nodded mysteriously.

"Ahh, yes. But this 'disgusting old mirror' has a trick." He withdrew his wand from his jeans pocket and tapped the side of the mirror twice, muttering an incantation under his breath. I watched in amazement as the mirror swung open, revealing a very long, very narrow passage. I heard a squeek from behind me, and turned see Kelsey with her hands over her eyes.

"There aren't any.. any spiders in there, is there?" James wrapped an arm around his 'little sister.'

"Now, now, Gizmo. Big brother James won't let any nasty spiders get you." I raised my eyebrows at the pair, and Kristin stifled a laugh.

"Gizmo?" Her eyes were dancing. Kelsey shook her head.

"It's what he used to call me whenever we were little. He would call me that whenever I was afraid of something to try to make me laugh." Kelsey looked up at James with an adoring look on her face, and I felt something rise up inside of me, even though I knew I shouldn't. I pulled the mirror open wider and started down the passage.

"Yes, well, let's get going before someone finds us standing around the entrance to this thing." There was a catch in my throat, and I knew that if anyone could tell something was wrong, it was James. Sure enough, there was soon a hand on my arm, and he began pulling me away from the others.

"You guys go on. Lily and I need to have a talk." Not caring about the dirt, the bugs or the spiders, I slid down the passage wall, crossing my legs Indian style and waiting for him to begin.

Instead, he sat down next to me and, squeezing my hand, asked in a soft voice what was wrong. I shook my head.

"I know I shouldn't feel jealous or worry but... I just can't get Katie and Nancy and LeeAnne out of my head and... and sometimes I'm afraid that I'll be temporary, just like they were. And I don't want that to happen." James pulled me into a hug, shaking his head the whole time.

"Lils, you know that's not going to happen. I... I didn't care about them, not the way I care about you. As a matter of fact-" There was laughter in his voice now. "As a matter of fact, LeeAnne dumped me because one night I accidentally called her Lily."

My laughter mixed with my tears as I leaned into his shoulder. I looked up to see him smiling down at me.

"Go out with me, Evans?" I grinned.

"Sure, Potter. Why not?"

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We reached the end of the tunnel, but when I stepped out, I immediately stepped back in.

"What's with all the lights out there?" I rubbed my eyes. "They nearly blinded me." James grinned.

"It's Halloween, Lil. There's bound to be lots of people awake." I playfully hit him.

"Shut up, you tosser. Where do you think the rest got to?" James shrugged, looking uninterested.

"Probably the Three Broomsticks." I pulled him out of the tunnel, one hand covering my eyes. James laughed.

"Your going to run into something, you goof. Take your hand off of your eyes." I shook my head.

"No. The light hurts. You're just going to have to wait until my eyes adjust." He couldn't see it, but I raised an eyebrow under my hand. "Why doesn't it hurt your eyes?" I felt his shoulders rise and fall. 

"I don't know. I've never been like that. It drives Sirius crazy that he can't wake me up with pain every morning." I laughed. 

"You two are quite the pair. I don't know how your mother deals with you and Sirius under the same roof." It was his turn to chuckle.

"Experience. Are your eyes better now?" I slowly pulled my hand away from my eyes.

"Yeah. I think so. Let's go find the others."

As it turns out, he was right. Upon entering the pub, we found Abby and Peter scowling at each other, Remus and Kelsey in hysterics and Kristin grinning at our interlocking hands. I blushed, but I didn't take my hand away, which made her grin wider.

We squeezed into the booth with our friends, leaving me with the feeling of deja vu. James looked from Abby to Peter and then back to Sirius, who was the only one whose face remained neutral. Sirius opened his mouth, as if to explain, but all that came out was laughter, as he finally broke down. So we turned to Kristin for the explanations.

"Well, Abby saw a rat, and she screamed and jumped onto the table, telling Sirius to kill it. Sirius pulled out his wand but Peter stopped him from hurting it. And then it ran off and Abby and Peter got into a huge argument about whether or not rats were misunderstood creatures." She tried to continue, but she too broke into hysterical giggles, causing James and I to laugh as well.

We passed the rest of the night in The Three Broomsticks, laughing and teasing, and telling embaressing stories about each other, and just enjoying the company of those we loved most.

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And that's all folks.

A/N: I'm bringin' sexy back! 

I'll try to update again as soon as I can. You can thank JoJo, The lost prophets, Justin Timberlake, All-American Rejects, Gavin DeGraw, and Chamillionaire for this chapter, because that's what I was listening to as I wrote it.

Sunni 


	16. The Trials of a Saturday

Disclaimer: Hmmm. Do you think I'm swimming in a pool of money right now? No, I'm not. I'm currently eating a Hot Pocket and a Mt. Dew, not caviar and champagne. 

**Happy New Years! 2007... hmm. it doesn't feel any different!**

Sorry the spelling in this is horrific, but my computer's being ghetto.

Now, let's get down to business. Sorry this update took so long! Well, I'm here to tell you, I am very happy with you guys. Thanks to CluelessWanderer, who reviewed 15 times, to E Patronum, who is totally and completely **awesome**, Amenti, who is finally back and who **needs to update**, Dancergirl51, who I would like to thank for updating **Secrets** so fast, and PrincessKiri, who always has something **positive** to say! I would also like to thank the 25 people who have Champagne Kisses on their Favorites list, and the 32 who have it on alert. You guys rock! I would also like to thank Josh Turner's parents for having such a gorgeous son. lol. And if anyone has any suggestions to help me with Fall From Grace, my other story, please help!

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Chapter 16: The Trials of A Saturday iuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiu

"Er... Mr. Potter?" Suprised at being adressed like this, I glanced up to see a very small, very scared looking little boy standing before me, almost in tears. I was tempted to laugh, but one look a Lily's face, and I knew I just couldn't.

"Yeah, little man?" He held out his shaking hand towards me, a tightly furled scroll within it. I reached out and took it, then patted the little boy on the back.

"Thanks, mate. What's your name?" He and I were both surprised that I had asked the question, and when I thought about it, I was surprised to realise that I actually cared, but the boy answered quickly.

"Daniel Lincoln. I'm... I'm a 1st year. I'm in Gryffindor, as well." I nodded carefully.

"That's pretty wicked, mate. Listen, Lily and I are going to head to the common room, but why don't you sit with us a lunch?" The younger boy smiled, knowing what he was being presented with was a rare treat, especially with 1st years. But for some reason I liked this kid.

"I think that would be neat." And with that, Daniel Lincoln whipped around and walked away so fast, I'm glad I didn't blink, or I would have missed him. I turned back around to find Lily scowling at me. I sighed.

"What did I do this time, Lils?" She was silent for a moment, then she shook her head.

"Please don't pick on him, James. He's a really nice little boy." My face blanched. Was that really how she thought of me, as a prank-playing bully? Well, I could be more than that. I was more than that.

"I'm not going to pick on him, Lily. I don't know why I invited him to sit with us. It just felt like the right thing to do." She gave a tight-lipped smile, but I knew she didn't believe me. I slipped the scroll into my pocket to read later. Right now I had to get back to the common room. I grabbed my books and pushed back my chair.

"Coming?" Lily nodded and gathered up her books. We entered the common room, finding silence instead of the usual chatter. My eyes searched the room until I found the source of distill.

Abby and Sirius stood in the middle of the common room, quills, books, and ink scattered around them, there lips glued together. I couldn't help it. I took one look at the sitiuation and burst out laughing. This not only pulled the couple apart, leaving dear little Abigail looking very flustered, but caused the entire common room to do the same. Sirius looked at me and grinned.

"It's about time, mate!"

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"So what did the note Daniel brought you say?" The question made me start. Lily and I were walking down to lunch, Sirius, Abby, and Kelsey a few paces behind us, laughing.

"Oh Merlin, Lily. I forgot all about it!" I reached into my robes and pulled out the tiny scroll. Unfurling, I noticed the very familiar writing, but couldn't place it. I read the letter twice, my brow furrowed in confusion, before reading it aloud.

"'James, would you and Ms. Evans please meet me for dinner tonight in my office? And please don't tell anyone you are coming. I trust you have the password. Professor Dumbledore.' How would he expect us to know the password?" I could almost here Lily rolling her eyes.

"We. Are. The. Head. Students. We have the passwords to the entire school, James, including the Headmaster's office, in case of an emergency." Well, she just made me feel about 2 feet tall.

"Oh." She smirked.

"Yeah, oh." By now we had reached the Great Hall, and I found myself searching the room for Daniel Lincoln, whom I found sitting by himself, neatly placing mashed potatoes on his plate. I grinned and, grabbing Lily's hand, made my way over to him. The others followed, confused looks sketched across their faces.

Lily and I sat down on either side of him, Sirius and the girls sitting across from us. Kelsey raised her eyebrows.

"Who's this?" I grinned and threw my arm around Daniel's shoulders.

"This is Daniel Lincoln, one of my new best friends." Daniel choked on his chicken. Patting him on the back, I laughed. "You okay?" The boy nodded and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Lily wrinkled up her nose and handed him a napkin.

"It seems you'll fit in well with the Marauders." She gave me a conteptuous look over Daniel's head as I began loading my plate with food. Reaching for another napkin, she smirked at me.

"I suppose you and Sirius will need these as well." Abby laughed.

"Of course they will. Even Remus eats like a pig, and he's the most civilized of all of them." The irony of that statement hit me, and I couldn't help laughing. The werewolf, who came from a run-down family, was more civilised than Sirius and I, the 'pure-bloods.' That just goes to show, stereo-types are ridiculous. Kelsey cleared her throat.

"Something you would like to share with the rest of the class, James?" I smirked and shook my head. She laughed. "Where is Remus, anyway?" Sirius shrugged, reaching across Abby for the green beans.

"Probably off somewhere snogging the brains out of Kristen." A stricken look crossed Kelsey's face, leaving as quickly as it had come, but I didn't miss it, and from the look on Lily's face, she hadn't either. Daniel shook his head.

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave." Lily looked at him increduosly.

"You know Shakespeare?" Daniel nodded at her, grinning.

"I'm one complex kid. There's a lot you don't know about me, Ms. Evans." It was my turn to choke on my lunch, eyeing the younger boy with suspicioun.

"Are you trying to hit on my girlfriend, Lincoln?" Daniel laughed and raised his eyebrows.

"Now what gave you that idea, Potter?" I think Lily was right. This kid was going to fit right in with us.

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After Daniel had departed toward the library, Kelsey had retired to the girls' dorm for a nap, and Abby had reported to detention for throwing a water balloon at Snape, Sirius, Lily and I had made our way to the common room, and had just settled into the arm chairs near the fire when the portrait hole opened once more, revealing Remus and Kristen. Sirius gave them his wolfish grin.

"There you are! We've been wondering about you, mate!" Remus raised his eyebrows at him.

"Wondering about me? I haven't been gone that long, have I?" I laughed.

"No, but you missed lunch. And we all know that you never forget about food, no matter the circumstances." Remus exchanged a hurried glance with Kristen, then turned back to us.

"I, er, I ate in the kitchens." Something clicked in my mind. Remus never was a very good liar. "And besides, why don't you give Sirius the 3rd degree? He wasn't at breakfast!" I rounded on Sirius. He scratched the back of his neck and kicked his feet up onto the table as Remus and Kristen plopped down onto the couch.

"I slept in." Remus raised his eyebrows.

"You weren't in your bed, so I figured you were already at breakfast. But you weren't there either." I folded my arms across my chest.

"How did I manage to miss all of this?" Somehow my question struck the rest of them as funny. Kristen shook her head.

"You never notice anything, James. Especially not lately, because you've been too caught up in Lily." Said redhead put her face in her hands, her cheeks as red as her hair. But...

"I guess you're right."

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"So where do you think Sirius and Remus really were?" Once again, conversation was struck up as we walked through Hogwarts' corridors, but this time we were headed to Dumbledore's office. Lily shook her head.

"I don't know. But obviously Kristen and Abby were with them because Abby wasn't at breakfast either, and it's plain to see Kristen and Remus were together." She suddenly started laughing. "I can't believe Abby actually threw that balloon at Snape. Sirius is definately a bad influence on her." I picked her up and twirled her around.

"And I'm not a bad influence on you?" She grinned, swinging my hand.

"You definately are." We had reached the stone gargoyle, and I turned to look at Lily.

"What did you say the password was again? I can't remember." She sighed.

"It was 'falling stars,' James. Honestly, I think Kristen was right." I followed her onto the rotating stair case.

"Right about what?" Lily knocked on Dumbledore's door.

"About you not noticing anything." She went to knock on the door again just as a vibrant voice I recognised as Dumbledore's said, "Come in." I had been in Dumbledore's extraordinary office many times before, being the troublemaker that I am, but obviously Lily hadn't, judging from the small gasp she let out when we entered.

All the portraits of former headmaster's and headmistresses adorned the walls, the occupants 'snoozing' in their frames. The headmaster had many strange objects scattered around, and the room was so large you could probably play Quidditch in it. But Lily's attention, of course, was directed towards the books. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of books were stocked in pure oak bookshelves, all around the office. Dumbledore smiled and clapsed his hands together, before sweeping his arm across a table in the middle of the room, with three chairs gathered around it.

"Well, I think we should eat before we go onto the.. more serious matters." (A/N: I keep wanting to spell serious like Sirius!) I sat down beside Lily and grabbed my fork.

"Are you kidding, Professor? Eating is a very serious matter!" Lily gave a very unlady-like snort into her goblet of pumpkin juice, and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"I think you'll find I quite agree with you, Mr. Potter. But the matter I have to discuss with you is even more serious, and I hope you will agree with me after you've eaten and we've discussed it."

Ten or twenty minutes later, when we had pushed our plates away, and had retired to the seats across from Dumbledore's desk, Lily raised her eyebrows and reclined farther into the armchair.

"So what is it that you wanted to talk to us about, Professor?"

iuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiu

Mwarharharharharhar! Sorry about that, but if I had continued I would have gone on for days, and I wanted to get this up here as fast as I could.

I know this chapter sucks, but I was **lost**... Oh well!

Please review. I only got 5 reviews last time, and I know more people are reading. So please, please review. It let's me know if I'm doing something worth doing. Am I??

♥Sunni


	17. Breaking What's Already Broken

**HaHaHaHa**... I'm baaaack!! Not that I've been gone very long, but whatever. This is a pretty quick update if I do say so myself. 

Disclaimer: The chance of me owning Harry Potter is about equivelant to me owning Jesse McCartney. Zero to none.

We have a returning character in this chapter, & I haven't decided yet whether or not E Patronum's going to be angry with me.. lol.

So, I believe the last chapter ended with a cliffhanger (mwarharhar!!) that went along the lines of this:

* * *

Ten or twenty minutes later, when we had pushed our plates away, and had retired to the seats across from Dumbledore's desk, Lily raised her eyebrows and reclined farther into the armchair.

"So what is it that you wanted to talk to us about, Professor?"

* * *

So, on with the chapter!!!

Chapter 17: Breaking What's Already Broken

Dumbledore cleared his throat, looking over his half-moon spectacles with clear blue eyes.

"Well, Ms. Evans, I brought you hear to talk about something that is very important to not only the wizarding community, but the Muggle community as well. I'm sure you've both heard about the tyrant known as Lord Voldemort." We both nodded, but I flinched slightly at the name, causing Dumbledore to look towards me. "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself, Ms. Evans. Remember that." I nodded, and Dumbledore looked satisfied enough to continue.

"I have gathered several very important and powerful wizards and witches from around Britain, and the world, to form a secret society that has come to be called the Order of the Phoenix. Maybe you have heard about it." Remembering our trip into the forest, James and I both nodded. "I usually don't recruit any students until they are out of school and established in the real world, but you two, along with several of you're friends, are special cases. I've never seen more brilliant seventh years, save maybe Lord Voldemort, myself, and perhaps Alastor Moody." Dumbledore paused for a moment, which James immediately took advantage of.

"Professor, are you trying to recruit us for the Order?" Dumbledore nodded serenly.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. You will not, of course, become actual member until after graduation, but I would like to give you some time to think over this yourselves and discuss it with your friends. This is a very serious decision, I want you to understand that. Your lives will be endangered more than once." He reached for a candy dish on the side of his desk. "Lemon drop?" I nodded excitedly.

"I love these things! I used to have my mum send me atleast one package a month in first and second year." Dumbledore smiled behind his silver beard.

"Indeed you did, Ms. Evans. I believe it was you who gave me my first one, and caused me tobecome quite fond of them." I started to giggle, but stopped abruptly with the look James gave me. This was not the time or the place. Even then, I couldn't help but notice the irony of the situation. I, the serious, book-worm Lily Evans, was being given "the look" by James Potter, infamous Marauder. Oh, me. I decided to cover up my embarrasment with a question.

"Have you talked to any others about this today, Professor?" I pulled my hair into a ponytail and fitted the elastic band around it while Dumbledore answered.

"Yes, I have. Sirius and Abby joined me for breakfast this morning, and I had Remus, Kristen, and Peter at lunch. I am expecting Frank and Alice tomorrow for dinner." James took a deep breath.

"Professor Dumbledore, I know Kelsey is only in sixth year, but I don't know if Abby and I can keep a secret like this from her. She knows us too well." Dumbledore calmly managed to open another lemon drop without crackling the paper even once.

"I know, Mr. Potter, which is why I have already informed Kelsey's older sister that although she may not join the Order until after she has graduated, she has the right to know that her sister and her friends are endangering their lives." I cleared my throat.

"So, when can we discuss this with the rest?" Dumbledore's eyes traveled from where they were examing the candy dish to me.

"You may speak with your friends on the matter after I have seen Frank and Alice tomorrow night. Until then please say nothing to them." James and I both nodded, and Dumbledore stood, indicating the meeting was over.

* * *

"I don't know what to do, James." I looked over at my boyfriend, who looked about as sullen as I felt, though maybe not as scared. He shook his head.

"I know what I'm doing. I'm going to join, no matter what anyone says. I just..." I wasn't exactly suprised at this declaration. James was the most stubborn person I had ever met, save maybe myself. So why was he hesitating?

"So what, James?" He stopped walking and grabbed my hands.

"I don't... I'm worried about you. I don't want you to get hurt. I don't think I could deal with that." I had to look away from him when he said that. I had been so worried about myself, about my own skin, that I hadn't even thought about James. I don't know what I would do if he got hurt. I looked back up at him.

"I don't want anything to happen to you, either. But it's a chance we've got to take, isn't it? Someone's got to fight, so it might as well be us." James opened and shut his mouth several time, making him look like a fish, before finally deciding to keep it shut. Maybe he was trying to persuade me not to join.

I don't know.

* * *

The next day was complete and total torture. I could tell Sirius and the others were trying their hardest not to say anything about the Order, as was I. Somehow we all managed to get through the day, and before I realized it, I was being swept by the multitudes into the Great Hall. I took a seat at the Gryffindor table, near the end of the table where Daniel was. I already loved this kid. He was hilarious.

Instead of the awkward dinner I had been prepared for, the result was actually fun. We even had our own small ceremony.

Sirius and James plopped down on the bench on either side of me, identical grins on both of their faces. I gave Kristen, who was sitting beside Remus, a look, telling her that I was as terrified of this new development as she was. Sirius trained his glance on Daniel, making me nervous, and when he reached into his pocket for his wand, I automatically started to say something. But what he pulled out of his pocket wasn't his wand.

It was a cardboard crown, similiar to the ones you get in kids' meals at Muggle restaraunts. Except this one had the words "HonoraryMarauder" scrawled across it in James' handwriting. Sirius adopted a somber face and cleared his throat.

"Daniel Something Lincoln, you have been nominated by James Michael Potter, Remus John Lupin, Sirius Orion Black (me), and Peter Maurice Pettigrew to become an Honorary Marauder. This is an oppurtunity given to no one, so," Sirius grinned, reaching across the table to place the crown on Daniel's head, "good for you, kid." Daniel beamed from underneath the too-big crown, and you could tell he was happy. I mean, who wouldn't be? I was James' girlfriend, and I wasn't an Honorary Marauder. Only Frank, and now, Daniel, had ever been given the honor. And that was only because Frank was the Marauders' roommate.

Yeah, that kid was lucky.

* * *

Daniel had retired to the dorms, and Kelsey was still no where to be found, but the rest of us were sitting around, not saying a word, anxiously awaiting Frank and Alice's return as if our lives depended upon it. And in a small way, they did.

They came through the portrait hole about an hour later, looking slightly confused but pleased. As they took their seats on the couch, we all looked over at them. Sirius, of course, was the first to open his mouth.

"I'm joining." His voice was firm and decided, and, like James, I knew his decision could not be swayed. I nodded.

"I am as well. No questions asked. That madman killed my parents." Sirius flinched slightly, but I was the only one to see it. I wonder if he was thinking about _his_ family, but I may never know. I didn't have time to think about it, though, as the others were speaking their opinions, too.

Abby, Peter, and Kristin just nodded their heads. Alice, however, was vicous about it. She went into a long rant about how he shouldn't even have any followers, about how his ideas were ludicrous, and a bunch of other nonsense. She was right, of course, but Alice can be so passionate about everything that after awhile we just zoned her out.

We sat up talking until it was time for mine and James' Head Patrols, then everyone dispersed, either to do homework or just to go to sleep.

James and I were acting silly to take our minds off of the events occuring in our lives, but our giggles turned into gasps as we rounded the corner on a scene that scared the_ hell_ out of me.

Kelli had Kelsey pushed up against the wall, her wand at her throat and her hand on her shoulder. Kelsey just stood there, motionless, tears running down her face. I had a flashback of when she was at the mercy of Lord Voldemort in the forest, and I wanted to rush forward and save her, but James held me back.

"Wait." He was whispering very close to my ear. "I want to see what this is all about." Kelli was shaking now, and as we inched forward, her voice became audible.

"You think I haven't seen how you look at him? I made a mistake, Kelsey, and now I can't have him back. But if I can't have him then neither can anyone else."

* * *

You know you love me. hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! Another hanging on the edge of your seats cliffhanger!!!! But you'll get over it and still come back and read more, right?? Right!???

Thanks to everyone for helping me get to **Chapter 17**... Wow. It doesn't seem like I've been here that long!

**xoxoxoxoxo, Sunni**


	18. Breaking Down Fences

Hullo. Sorry. I know it's been forever, and all that jazz. But I had a MAJOR choir thing to do, and we're taking stupid tests right now. Sorry. And my best friend is dating a BIMBO HaaHaa. I've also had softball, cheer tryouts, choir tryouts for next year, & I've had to work extra hard in Journalism lately, b/c our last paper of the year is coming out soon. Special Thanks to Dan (notsupposedtobhere, or something like that), b/c I love him, E.P., b/c she always give me an ear to rant in... lol. I love u guys. 

James POV, people!!!

Sorry about this chapter... It's horrible, I know, but I've had terrible writer's block and I just kind of threw this together. It's short, and it's just a filler, but I should be able to update again in the next week or so.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter Big Bucks. Me Little Bucks. -  
Chapter 18: Breaking Down Fences

* * *

This was about Remus? I mean, seriously. We're in the middle of a war, and Kelli is threatening to kill someone because of a guy?

This girl really was as demented as Bella. Turning my eyes back to the girls, I watched as Kelli lifted her arm and ran her hand through her hair, causing her sleeve to fall back and revealing something to us she probably didn't want to reveal just yet.

There was a collective gasp as Lily, Kelsey and I all stared at the Dark Mark that had recently been burned into her caramel colored skin. Kelli tried to appear defiant, but her eyes gave away her fear.

"You can come out now, Potter." Lily, her face angry, started to slip out from under the cloak, but I shook my head at her.

"Go get Dumbledore." She hesitated, but eventually she nodded. I stepped out from under the cloak and listened to her hurried, retreating footsteps. I turned to Kelli. She grinned.

"I was wondering when you would join our party, Potter. I have no real interest in her." She flicked her wand at Kelsey and watched as she was wrapped in rough, thick ropes. "The Dark Lord wants you, Potter. You, Black, and Evans. Though I really have no idea why... You're not very interesting." She eyed me up and down for a moment I shook my head at her.

"Why did you do this, Kelli? I don't get it. You were happy. I thought you loved Remus." She laughed harshly, her face contorted.

"I thought I loved him too. But I can't love a monster. I spent days and days wondering if I had made a mistake. When the Dark Lord called for me, I had to go. I had to, James. I had to know." Tears were welling up in her eyes. "He made me realize that I hadn't made a mistake. Showed me that I deserved a real, whole person. But sometimes, sometimes I still wonder. Remus made me so happy." She slid down the wall until she reached the floor, pulling her legs up underneath her. "And then he told me I should join him. That he could help me, that he could give me the perfect life. He told me he would make my father pay for everything he had done to me." She looked up at me, her eyes furious.

"Did you know, James, that my father used to beat my mother? And then, when she died, he would hit me, instead. He made me so scared of everything. Everything. When I got my Hogwarts letter, I was so happy. I thought it would all go away, that he couldn't hurt me anymore. But that didn't work, either, because he still haunted me, even here, at Hogwarts. Even in my dreams." She shuttered. "And then Remus came along, and the dreams stopped, because I finally had someone to protect me from them. But I learned that Remus could hurt me even more than my father had. Remus could make me into a monster." Kelli went on for awhile, telling about how she had spent days in the Astronomy Tower, just crying, until Bella Black had come to her and told her the Dark Lord wanted to see her. I didn't know what to say to her, so I just stood there, my wand still steady in my hand, until I finally heard footsteps approaching.

Dumbledore appeared, his face concerned, the twinkle in his blue eyes more like a spark of lightning. He nodded to Lily, who pulled me over to the side.

"Dumbledore said for us to take Kelsey to the hospital wing, and then to return to our common room. He said he'll take care of Kelli." I nodded at her, but turned to Dumbledore.

"Professor, Bella Black is a Death Eater. Kelli said she was the one who passed the messages to Kelli from Voldemort." The older man nodded, his eyes still focused on Kelli, who, in turn, was still speaking, as if she hadn't noticed what was happening.

I scooped Kelsey up in my arms and walked in the direction of the hospital wing, Lily close behind me. When we got so far we could no longer hear Kelli's ramblings, I turned to Lily, who had tears streaming down her face.

"What happened to her, James? What went wrong? She was so wonderful... How do we know who to trust anymore?" I just stared at her for a moment, at a lose for words, before speaking.

"We don't, Lily. Right now you're one of the only people I can trust. And you can always trust me."

* * *

We spent the entire month of November waiting for news on Kelli, any news, but after a few weeks, it became obvious we weren't about to get it. Lily and I even went to Dumbledore, but he merely shook his head and told us he was sorry, but that he couldn't tell us anything at the moment.

Bella had disappeared all together, which tore Sirius apart. Although she was a psycho, she was still his family, and he hadn't wanted her to go that far over the edge. Abby was on tetherhooks about her sister, who was still not feeling well. Let's just say Abby was't too happy with Kelli, either.

One Saturday morning, coming back from breakfast, Lily and I collapsed on the crimson sofa, exhausted from the week behind us. We still had atleast five months until N.E.W.T's, but the teachers, McGonagal especially, were acting like they were next week. We were up to our ears in homework and Head duties, and in my case, Quidditch. It had gotten to the point where I felt less like I was living my own life, and more like I was living someone else's; like I was just going through the paces. I suppose that happens to everyone every now and then, right? Gods, I hope so, or something was seriously wrong.

As I let myself melt into the couch, I heard the potrait hole open and a pair of large feet walking towards us. Bracing myself, I watched as Sirius tossed himself down onto the couch beside me and passed over a piece of parchment.

"Andy sent me a letter. She said your girlfriend is very welcome on Christmas break." He grinned. "I didn't tell her who it was. I want it to be a surprise." Before I could stop him, he was looking over my head and explaining to Lily: "Ever since Prongs started mooning over you, Andy's been giving him advice on how to 'woo' you. Let's just say he didn't do so well with it until this year. Actually," he looked back at me, "he didn't do so hot with it this year. I guess you're just dense, Lils." I tossed a pillow at his head before he could say anything else.

"Oh, go find Abby, Black." He grinned at me.

"Gladly, Potter. I have to tell her that she's coming, too. See you later, Lily." He bounded off, leaving the letter with us, and Lily laughed.

"She was giving you advice on how to 'woo' me, huh? She didn't happen to tell you to stop playing with your hair, did she?" I grinned, sheepish.

"Actually, she did. I just can't stop. It's a nervous habit, I guess. My dad does it too." She looked at me, her eyes sad, before settling her head onto my shoulder.

"My dad always used to bite his lip. It was always so annoying, but now I miss seeing it. And my mum, she would always pick imaginary lint off of her dress, and she talked with her hands." She paused for a moment. "I guess I do that too, don't I?" I wrapped my arm tighter around her.

"Yeah, you do. But it's cute." She threw me a small smile.

"I guess your hair's kind of cute now, too." I chuckled.

"That's new. But really, you're going to love Andy. I can't believe you already know Ted." She shook her head.

"I know, isn't it crazy? It doesn't seem possible that there would be two wizards or witches in one Muggle neighborhood, but it happened. I remember when we were growing up, Petunia always had such a big crush on Ted. I wonder what she would say if she found out that Ted was a wizard." I grinned at her, about to drop another bombshell.

"Well, I don't know how you missed her, but Ted's little sister, Lana, was a witch too. She was a year ahead of us, in Ravenclaw. She was best friends with Brandy Vincent and Natalie Irvin. And you had to know Benjy Fenwick. He grew up with Ted, and he ended up at Hogwarts, too." I watched as her jaw dropped.

"That's impossible. That's four people from one Muggle neighborhood! That never happens!" I laughed.

"Well, it did this time." She shook her head, laughing.

"Benjy Fenwick used to baby-sit me when Petunia couldn't. I didn't know what happened when he just disappeared like that. And Lana and I used to play together at the little park. I even went to her birthday parties! How could I not notice her?" I shrugged.

"You were too caught up in the experience of making new friends, and learning about the magical world. You weren't thinking about someone who you hadn't spoken with in a year, or even two years." She sighed.

"I suppose you're right." Lily looked up at me. "Let's go for a walk. Around the castle." I grinned at her.

"The castle? Why not the lake?" She laughed.

"A walk around the lake is a little too cliche for me, Potter. And it's raining." I tugged her hand.

"Oh, come on. Isn't it every girl's dream to be kissed in the rain?"

"That's a bit too cliche too." I gave her my saddest look.

"Please, Lily? Let's go run around in the rain, and get wet, and muddy, and come back with pneumonia so Remus can yell at us and tell us he has enough to worry about at the moment." She grinned at me, and I dragged her out of the common room and into the dreary castle, heading towards the entrance hall, and, from there, the rain.

* * *

Yeah. It wasn't very good. No flames, please. I'm not in the best of moods.


	19. Dances With Ghosts

Why, hello, my friends

A/N.. Don't kill me. It's not my fault. Well, maybe it is a little bit. :) Sorry this chapter skips around a bit. If it doesn't make sense tell me, okay? Thanks to all my reviewers... You guys bring a light to my day! I love you all!

In this chapter: Drama, drama, drama, and fluff. But I like it :)

**Chapter 19: Dances with Ghosts**

Sirius was uncharacteristically silent the whole ride to King's Cross, staring out the window at the trees. Abby was quiet as well, holding onto Sirius' hand as if it were a lifeline which, I imagine, it was at the moment.

I suppose we were all thinking back on the past year, the year in which we had lost so much. Four of us, Sirius, Abby, Kelsey and I, had lost our families, whether voluntarily, like Sirius, or involuntarily, like the rest of us. Either way, it was hard, and celebrating the holidays without them was going to hurt.

Kelsey, who had been studying her hands for the past half-hour, finally looked up at the rest of us, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Why can't it ever be easy for us? I don't get it. Even before Voldemort, things were hard. Lily's sister hated her. Ryan died." We all held our breath as Kelsey choke back sobs, knowing she was remembering Ryan, who had been her best friend before he had fallen prey to leukemia. The whole school had cried that day. Kelsey, her voice shaky, continued.

"Why can't we just get to be normal teenagers? Why can't we ever laugh?" She stood up, her hands hanging limply at our sides as we watched her silently. "Answer me! I want to know! Why did Voldemort pick us?" She turned on her heel and walked as calmly as she possibly could, Remus and Abby both following her. Remus reached the compartment door and jogged down the corridor towards her, but Sirius quickly reclaimed Abby's hand.

"Don't. Let Moony go." Abby nodded, but the concerned look remained on her face, even as Sirius held her hand in his.

I glanced around the compartment, trying to find something less emotional to watch, and my eyes fell on Daniel, who was lying back in his seat, his face ashen. I was almost immediately at his side, his face pressed into my shoulder as he sobbed, even though I didn't understand. He finally pried himself out of my arms and settling back on the bench.

"Ryan was my brother." He said this calmly and plainly, shocking the whole compartment into silence for a moment. Kristen inhaled deeply.

"But Ryan's last name was Easterling." Daniel nodded, his eyes misting over, and I squeezed his hand.

"My last name is Lincoln because my mom remarried when I was eight, only a few months before Ryan died. Brian gave me his name, but Ryan..." His sentence died slowly, and Alice smiled sadly.

"Ryan always knew his dad was going to come home." Daniel nodded, his expression making him look as if he had swallowed a lemon.

"Ryan was a lot of things, but he definitely was no Seer. The thought of my dad coming back is laughable. He didn't even show up at Ryan's funeral. But Ryan always thought the best of everyone, even when all evidence points otherwise." He sighed, averting his gaze to the floor. "I remember when he used to talk about Kelsey. He was only fourteen, but he loved her. As more than just a best friend, too. He used to tell me all the time that one day he was going to convince her to drop all those jerks she liked and run away with him."

He pulled his hand from mine and stood up, pulling his cloak tight around him. He gave us all a look that clearly said, "Don't follow me," and was gone.

I resumed my position beside James and melted against him, as if drawing strength from his presence. He looked down, smiling warily, and kissed my forehead.

"What a ride."

**woot woot woot woot woot page break woot woot woot**

I choked back laughter as I watched James struggle to drag both of our trunks across the station, looking neither as smug as Sirius, who easily toted his and Abby's things, nor as defeated as Frank, who had long since given into Alice's insistence she could haul her own belongings. James, however, was much more stubborn and hard-headed than Frank.

Alice looked at me worriedly from when she and Frank were waiting for his mother, and this time my giggles escaped. James looked back at me questioningly, and I nodded towards Alice.

"She is so worried Mrs. Longbottom will hate her. She doesn't realize she could charm a yeti into taking a trip across an Egyptian desert with her. And I don't mean her magical talents." James frowned.

"A yeti?" I smirked, about to question his intelligence, when I realized wizards might have heard the myth of the Abominable Snowman.

"Nothing. It's a Muggle thing, I guess." He turned and shrugged, continuing his trek across the student packed station. I started to follow him before I realized what I was doing.

"James, who are we meeting here, by the way?" He looked back at me again, only this time his expression clearly spelled out "DUH!"

"My mum, Lily. Who else would we be meeting?" Needless to say, I was confused.

"But I thought we were going to see Andromeda for Christmas. And Ted, and Benjy, and Lana." He threw back his head and laughed, causing every parent on the platform to look at us with those knowing smiles. I rolled my eyes. "What is so funny?"

"You think my I would make poor mum miss out on a chance to lecture Sirius and I? There is no way Andy would be able to put up with us all break, anyway." He grinned at me. "We're going to invade Andy and Ted's on Christmas night, when they have their little Christmas party. Lana and Benjy will be there, and a few of their other friends."

"So how long do we stay at Andy's?" James shrugged.

"Probably until we're due back at school. But these days, you never know."

Immediately our carefree mood vanished, only to be replaced with the cold that everyone had learned to associate with the mention of Voldemort.

I felt may eyes fall to my feet, memories of my parents rolling around in my mind. I thought of my sister, and wondered if she was still grieving as much as I was.

And suddenly I had to go see her.

**woot woot woot woot woot page break woot woot woot**

James threw me a side-ways glance, his face apprehensive.

"Are you sure you want to go see her, Lils?"

We were in the back of his mother's station wagon, on our way to 4 Privet Drive, where Ms. Vivian Potter was to drop James and I off for about half an hour. I could see her gracefully aged face in the rear-view mirror, her eyes mimicking her son's voice concerns.

I nodded, taking a deep breath. I wanted to, but was I ready? What if Petunia just slammed the door in my face?

Relaxing into the cool leather interior, I tried to swallow my doubts. It was Christmas time, and Petunia wasn't entirely heartless.

As the vehicle slowed to a stop in front of a cozy, two story house, I fumbled for the door handle and scrambled out of the car, my heart beating entirely too fast for my liking. I heard Mrs. Potter pull away as I started up the front path. My steps faltered once, but James pushed me forward.

"Cant stop now." I nodded, my breath shaky.

"I know." When I reached the door, I knocked lightly on the door, remembering how it had annoyed Petunia so much when people were insistent at the door.

The blood red door creaked slowly open, revealing the stunned face of my sister.

"Lily?" I nodded, shocked when immediately flung the door open, revealing a spacious entrance hall and a small staircase behind her. I just stared at her for a moment, forgetting my ability to speak, so she took it upon herself. "What's happened? Why are you here?" I just shook my head, my tongue once again glued to my mouth, so James spoke for me, explaining what had happened in the train station.

Petunia unabashedly stared at me, and I stared back, both of us amazed that I had the courage to knock on her door after she had made it perfectly clear that I was never to darken her doorstep. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, then opened it again, before simply collapsing into my arms, soaking my shirt with her tears.

"Oh, Lily. Why did you come here?" Her voice was muffled against my cotton shirt, but it was clear what she was saying. "Vernon would simply throw a fit. I... I don't know what to do. Oh, what do I do?" She wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve before looking back up at me, a battle clearly raging inside of her. "Lily, you must truly believe me, I love you. I do want to see you. But my husband wouldn't hear of it. He..." Her voice trailed off, and she looked away. "I think you should leave."

"Petunia!" I simply looked at her for a moment, as she stared at her shoes, played with her rings, and did everything else she could to avoid making eye contact with me. I choked back a sob. "Please don't do this, Petunia. We can make things better. We can be a family again." Almost against my will, my voice had a note of panic in it as I pleaded with her, but she finally looked at me, this time with a fire burning inside her eyes. She glared at me.

"A family, Lily? How can we be a family? Without hearing mum's laughter? Without holding dad's hand? Without them saying 'I love you, baby girl.' It wouldn't happen even if we tried. We're too different, Lily." She shook her head and retreated into her house, turning to glance at us one last time, locking eyes with James.

"Take care of my baby sister." With that, she closed the door in our faces. I stood there for several seconds, staring at it, before turning on my heel and racing down the porch stairs. James grabbed my hand and whirled me around, encircling me in his arms as I cried into his chest. He ran his hands through my hair and rubbed my back, doing his best to comfort me as I sobbed. I could feel his breath in my ear as he leaned closed to my face.

"She's wrong, Lils. You will always have a family. It's me. It's Alice, and Abby, and Kristen, and Kelsey. It's all the Marauders, and Frank." I could almost sense him grinning. "And your little boyfriend, who's much too young for you." I glanced up at him with a watery smile before settling my head onto his shoulder as we waited for his mum to return. I shook my head.

"Nah. Daniel is much too short for me. And his hair's too brown. I prefer my guys kind of tall, with glasses, and hazel eyes, and black hair." He tightened his arms around me.

"I think I have the perfect guy for you, then." I raised my eyebrow in mock curiosity, though he couldn't see it.

"Oh, really? What's his name?" We continued on like that until Mrs. Potter's care came to a stop in front of us and we climbed in. She smiled at me in the rearview mirror.

"How did it go?" I smiled, but it was shaky and I knew it didn't reach my eyes.

"It didn't really go. It just sort of stood still." She nodded, understanding on her face.

"I know how that can be. I've been a couple of those instances myself. None as serious as yours, of cause, but I remember one time..."

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"I don't understand why he even bothers anymore." James was sitting on the edge of my bed two days later as I was applying my make-up, getting ready to go Christmas shopping with his mother. I raised a quizzical eyebrow at him.

"Who are you talking about?" I began rummaging through the closet of the guest room I was staying in. "And what should they stop bothering about?" He frowned at me, as if I should know, but began to tell me anyways.

"Sirius. He always gets incredibly moody this time every year, staring out the window. Angry at the world, but mostly angry at his parents. He worries a lot about his younger brother, and about whether he's going to end up like them." He grinned warily. "I only met his mum once, about a year ago, in Diagon Alley. She's mad as a hatter, but not the funny kind of crazy. The angry, scary kind of crazy." I nodded.

"I always wonder how someone as good and loving as Sirius came from people like them. It blows my mind sometimes." I shook my head. "He was lucky to have Andy around." I sighed before signaling for James to leave. "Shoo. I have to get dressed." He grinned at me and leaned over for a kiss.

"More reason for me to stay." He kissed me quickly and ran out of the room, the pillow I threw his way colliding with the thick door. I sighed and stared at the door for a few moments before proceeding to pull my clothes on and run a brush through my hair before rushing out the very same entrance to meet James' mum in the kitchen. I climbed into the emerald fire that I found waiting for me and shouted for my destination.

As I climbed out of the ashes into the main room of the Leaky Cauldron, my ears were assaulted with the usual dull roar of a pub. I smiled and nodded at Tom, who had helped me out of the fireplace, and turned to assist Mrs. Potter. We walked briskly out the back door into the weedy courtyard, Mrs. Potter pulling out her wand as we went. She tapped the bricks with the rod, and I watched, transfixed, as they folded in together to form the entrance to Diagon Alley. It was ridiculous, of course, but just like Hogwarts, Diagon Alley was still so new to me. After seven years, I suppose I should be used to it, but it was so... well, magical. I smiled mentally at the pun.

As we wandered down the different rows of books in Flourish and Blotts, Mrs. Potter sent me a sly glance. I couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. Though I had talked to her many times since we arrived at her house, but this was my first time alone with her.

"My son really likes you, you know." It wasn't a question. She wasn't making sure I knew, but telling me. I smiled.

"Yes. I really like him too." I almost laughed. "A year ago, if you would have told me I would be dating James Potter, I would have hexed you. Now, though... I don't know. I don't know what changed. It happened rather fast." Mrs. Potter 'humphed' as she pulled "The Charmed Life" off the shelf and flipped it over to read the summary.

"Darling, it didn't happen fast at all. It's been happening for seven years now, ever since he pulled your hair that first time on the Hogwarts Express. Though you did fight constantly with him, your attraction was always there, fueling you both along." The older woman smiled, as though she knew something I didn't, which she probably did. "You didn't particularly like James, but he was familiar. And when you needed someone, he was there, and you both realized what you should have realized a long time ago." She sent me a sideways glance. "Do you realize that you're the first girl he's ever 'brought home to mama'?" I shook my head, knowing that James had had his share of girlfriends, and wondering why he hadn't introduced his mother to any of them.

We walked along in silence for a moment, glancing at books, but both our minds in other places, probably on the same subject. She turned to look at me again as I was skimming through a book about a dragon tamer and his illicit romance with his coworker. I rolled my eyes.

"Lily?" I looked up from the book into her warm hazel eyes, so like her sons, to see her expression. "Lily, I think James loves you."

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A/N: Okay.. so it wasn't very long, and I know you all hate me because I'm such a jerk and not only have I not been able to read any new chapters of the stories on my story alert, but I haven't been able to update either. (CRINGE!) It was all the end of the year stuff... I promise that was it!! I love you all!

-- Sunni :)


	20. Authors Note

Why, hello, my friends

Why, hello, my friends. I know, I know, you all hate me. And I don't blame you. I'm just taking the time to write this little note to let you all know that CK is not being abandoned. I am going to finish it, regardless of HP7. But anyway, I want you all to know that I am trying my hardest to finish the next chapter of Champagne Kisses. It might take me a while, but it will be finished, I promise! I'm so, so sorry about this taking so long. The next chapter should be up within a month.

Love always,

Sunni


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